Tides of War
by Eric J. Dantes
Summary: HP/FD/GD/DG Harry is a cold Ravenclaw, who values knowledge and power over everything after loosing the love of his life. Set in fourth year, AU and OOC obviously. Starts right after Harry's name came out of Goblet
1. Chapter 1

So this came to me for some odd and strange reason from lord knows where, all I know is that to me at this moment it sounds like a good story but review and give me your opinion. In all seriousness if you read this story you might as well review and I'll know if you read this because the hits and review don't usually add up, so review and if I get enough I'll continue. Much appreciated for the reviews even if its as simple as "good story, continue" but seriously no flames, if you don't like it just don't review, it really pisses me off when I read those cuz in all honesty I think you're an asshole after that and imagine ways I can kill you...:D

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><p>Harry stood up not paying any attention to anybody; their opinion didn't matter to him. They were hypocrites; they loved him for defeating the Dark Lord but hated him for he was, when it was them who created who he was today. He had tried, so hard, to make friends with these people but in the end the only ones he trusted were the Ravenclaws, they saw things logically and took into account everything. When Harry had first stepped into the train, he was swamped by the students, everybody wanted to be his 'friend' but Harry knew better, they just wanted to be associated with him for his fame. The only person who hadn't even him the light of day was her…Hermione Granger.<p>

Harry felt a tug on his heart and for a second his emotionless face faltered showing the pain he held inside but quickly masked it with nobody noticing the change. It still hurt to think about Hermione Granger, the girl he loved. She was everything to him; his only true friend and in his second year his girlfriend. Harry had befriended the girl right then and there on the train, even though she was hesitant to even speak with him. She, like him, didn't grow up with friends and it was this and their common grounds of knowledge that had become the foundations of their friendship and, later, relationship.

When they had both been sorted to Ravenclaw they saw it as a blessing, being in the house that valued knowledge over everything. With knowledge came courage, loyalty, and cunningness; that was their train of thought. The more knowledge you had the less you were afraid of things, the more you knew who to trust and the more you knew how to work situations into your favor, it was only logical.

But Hermione Jean Granger was…gone. She had died in their second year, while others were petrified, she had not been so lucky; she caught the full gaze of the monster that was the Beast of Slytherin. Seeing Hermione dead and holding her in his arms had driven him to almost complete madness. It was at this moment that he had become completely cold to anyone other than Ravenclaws. After Hermione's death, he had dived deeper into his work. He used the clues that he and Hermione had come up with to figure out what the beast was, Hermione's death being the final clue. It was a Basilisk that was attacking. With the knowledge of knowing what he was facing he began to learn every spell he could to defeat the beast, even if it was _Dark _magic. Harry scoffed, there was no such thing, light, dark there was no difference, just the use of a spell; a spell was grey.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts as he neared the Headmaster who looked down at Harry, his eyes full of sorrow and pain. The Headmaster had tried to befriend Harry, even going as far as telling the boy of the prophecy but alas he was too late. The death of Hermione Granger had shut Harry down from the world, telling him of the prophecy was only icing on the cake as Harry was now more distant to the Headmaster than anybody else in the school. Harry looked at the Headmaster for a second before his gaze turned to Mad-Eye Moody. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Harry turned and walked through the door that the other three champions had walked through. Once he had entered the room he found Cedric neared the fire, leaning against the mantle. Krum was as stoic as ever in his corner of the room. Fleur was the first to acknowledge that Harry had even entered the room. Fleur held his cold gaze with a cold gaze of her own. Harry suddenly felt something that he had not felt in almost two years, a tug in his heart. He didn't know what it was as the emotion seemed familiar but what it was, was just beyond Harry's grasp. Harry could swear that she also felt it as her ice blue eyes suddenly widened for a millisecond before returning to their previous ice like manner but there was a hint of something behind it that Harry couldn't quite pinpoint. Harry broke the gaze first, he didn't know why, but he felt that the longer that he looked at this girl the more attached he would become to her and that was not good in any logical sense.

Fleur herself was having a battle within herself, here was this boy – no _man_ – and she was inexplicably attracted to him. There was something familiar about him, and it wasn't just that he was Harry Potter, no there was something in her soul that recognized him, almost like…then it hit her, why he was so familiar. She quickly hid her surprise, now was not the time to show emotions, not after so long and especially not here.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" both Harry and Fleur turned to Cedric who had noticed Harry.

"My name came out of the Goblet," Harry said emotionlessly, "and before you ask, no I did not enter my name, I would much rather be studying for my NEWTS."

Cedric nodded, Harry had become the youngest person to take the OWLS, earning an O in every subject except Divination, which Harry had taken and earned an E, even though he hadn't even taken the class at Hogwarts. Not that it mattered; Harry didn't believe that the teacher even had the 'ability' and had taken it only to see if it was worth it. Harry had done the first half of the test before becoming bored and handing in his test half done, he didn't care what he got, to him it was a joke.

Suddenly the door was thrown open and in walked Madam Olympe Maxime, Igor Karkaroff, Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Mad-Eye Moody and Snape. Dumbledore quickly clutched Harry by the shoulder and looked into his eyes, "Did you put your name in the Goblet Harry?"

Harry's emotionless face did not even falter for a second, "No," was his simple reply

"He's obviously lying," Igor growled

Harry's gaze moved to Igor, "The opinion of a Death Eater doesn't matter to me."

Everybody in the room went stiff, Igor looking at Harry, a mix of shock and rage in his eyes, "How do you know this?"

Harry gave a humorless chuckle, "You can try and hide it all you want but I can still see it, I don't need to see your wrist to know."

"Lies, the boy lies, you told him didn't you?" Igor said raising his wand and surprising everyone in the room pointed it at Snape.

Snape raised an eyebrow, "Put your wand down Igor," Snape enunciated every syllable as he said it, "I did no such thing, Potter has more knowledge than Albus here has gathered in his 100 plus years and my own combined. How he knows is his secret and I can assure you that you will not know how he knows unless he wants it to be known to you," Snape said. Harry gave a slight almost nonexistent smile, he liked Snape and though Snape would never admit it or even give the hint, Harry had quickly become his favorite student.

"Obviously somebody wants the boy dead," Mad-Eye said suddenly. Harry gaze turned to him and his eyes bore down Mad-Eye.

"Obviously," Harry retorted. Harry knew that this was not the real Mad-Eye, he knew that he was a death eater but for what reason he was teaching students to defend themselves, and very well for the matter, was a mystery that Harry was still trying to solve and until then he would not make a move against him, of course Harry would not let his defenses down at all whenever he was around him. Harry had even gone toe to toe with the imposter when he had ambushed the students, though Harry had taken note that he wasn't using lethal curses and jinxes just simple almost harmless ones.

"Well then I believe that we should allow the other schools to select another champion as well," Olypme said.

Without even turning to face Olympe because of the simple fact that she was standing next to Fleur and he did not want to look at her at the moment, he said quickly, "You'll find that, that won't work. The Goblet obviously thinks that I am entered from a different, fictional, fourth school. Trying to alter the Goblet to pick a second champion for a school is almost impossible while altering so that it believes that there is a fourth school and my name being the only one entered, picked me."

"See! The boy did it," Igor cried out

"I can guarantee that I didn't Death Eater, why would I even try to bring honor and glory to this school? The gold doesn't even draw we, I'm richer than this entire room combined (the fact that his godfather had, before Harry was even born, named him his Heir. Knowing that he would not give conceive a child himself, the fact that Sirius was still a wanted criminal meant that all the money and the title fell upon Harry, making him the richest man in the world), and the chances of dying are too high for my taste," Harry said simply.

"Well then I can see that we now have a new problem," Dumbledore sighed, "because of the rules of the tournament and the magic that binds the champions, Harry in no longer required to take classes here at Hogwarts, instead he must study with his 'school' but seeing as the school does not exist, there can be an amendment to appease the magic of the tournament. All champions will be allowed and given access to all known and gathered knowledge, though the rule of teachers helping them is now, more than ever, still in place," Dumbledore said, "the magic of the Goblet will notify me if such an occurrence happens," he said pointedly looking at Krum and Igor, "Now I believe that we are all tired and should retire to our quarters, do you not?" the last part not being a question but a carefully worded order to all in the room.

As they began to file out Harry felt someone slip their hand in and out of his pocket, he gave it no mind and continued to walk out of the room and stalked off towards the Ravenclaw homeroom, while everyone else headed elsewhere. Once Harry was sure that he was absolutely alone he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that was there

_Harry_

_Meet me by the lake at 2_

_Fleur_

Harry pocketed the note and began thinking to himself, if it was a good idea to meet the girl that was causing him so much torment in the few moments that they had met. Part of him said that it was too dangerous but the logical side of him started weighing out the pro and cons of going and finally the sheer curiosity took over, what could possible happen?

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><p>Review, so I know if I should continue or not...going to be a very dark grey Harry though not completely dark...um...its going to be a HarryGabrielle/Fleur/Daphne story but it'll actually make sense unlike some other story where the girls are alright with sharing Harry. There are going to be a lot of problems with the relationship, Fleur and Gabrielle wont like Daphne at all and Daphne will try to steal Harry all to herself though she cant cause of a veela bond, even though she soul bonded with Harry. so there is going to be like a reality check on this story...um need beta, hit me up, cuz i'm doing a lot of stories at the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

So I usually don't do this but I felt I had to, so here are some answers to reviews

Random Reviewer

Yea Gabrielle will **definitely **be older, around 13-14

rb2312

No shes not a ghost and doesn't share a toilet with Moaning Mirtle

KashikoiNekoHu, Darksnider05, Siven80, NeedNoName

Ok so I decided to answer you guys all together because you guys just said the same thing and I don't want to write individual responses. First things first, of course there are going to be holes for now, I don't know how many books you have read but I have never read a book and known everything about the character and the plot and why everything is the way it is in the first chapter. It takes the entire book to truly find out everything in the entire story. I mean if you've read the Harry Potter series you can understand where I'm coming from here.

As for his knowledge, I know more than my mother and father combined and both have degrees, but the difference between me and them is that they are _wiser_. Being smarter than everybody around you doesn't mean you're are better than them. _Anybody, no matter the age, can be intelligent, but wisdom comes with age. You can be young, intelligent, and a fool but the old, wise is always a step ahead. _That's my own quote/motto, feel free to use it.

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><p>Harry sat up in bed, a book was open in front of him but his mind was on every subject but the book. Thoughts raced across his mind, most of them so quick that Harry was only mildly conscious of the thoughts, his subconscious doing most of the thinking. In truth most of the thoughts pertained to two woman, Hermione Granger and Fleur Delacour. Somehow, these women where connected but <em>how<em>? That was the question that was prominent in Harry's mind. Pushing the thoughts almost forcefully out of his mind he looked down at his watch; 1:15. 'Might as well, go for a walk while I'm at it,' Harry thought to himself as he pulled on his invisibility cloak.

The moon shone brightly in the night sky, while the stars twinkled brightly, tonight showing more than any other night Harry had ever seen. As he looked up at the sky the only thought that crossed his mind was that this was the perfect night for Astronomy.

"Fancy seeing you out here Potter," Harry whipped around wand drawn at the forest line, he couldn't see who had spoken but it was obviously female

"_Lumos" _Harry said pointing his wand where he thought he heard the voice coming from, only to find the spot empty, he searched for the person but couldn't see her, "where are you?"

"Come now Potter, I know you are much smarter than that," Harry whipped as he heard the voice now behind him. The female caught his wand arm by the forearm just as it was about to strike her, "come now, what kind of gentleman are you? You almost struck me."

Even with his wand lit, harry still could not see the girl's face, and because the wand was behind her, the shadow was even darker across her face. She was wearing her cloak completely closed with the hood pulled up. Nothing gave away who this girl was, the only thing that Harry could say about this girl was that she was about as tall as he was though he noted that she was wearing boots with heals on them and she smelled faintly like coconut vanilla. Harry felt her wand being pressed to his throat and knew he was in a bind

"What do you want?" Harry asked

He heard the girl chuckle, "Me? Nothing, I was out here enjoying the night when you suddenly showed up?" she then went silent and Harry couldn't help but feel like she was looking at him almost analytically even though he couldn't see any part of her face.

"Then why do you have your wand at my neck?" Harry asked

"Oh well that's just a precaution, after all you did almost hit me, how do I know you won't attack me?" she countered smoothly, "after all you almost just did a few moments ago."

Harry couldn't argue with that logic and as a Ravenclaw had to even applaud her a manner of speaking, she was thinking with her mind not her emotions, looking at all the details, "it was an accident, I was startled that you were behind me, I apologize if I made you feel threatened," Harry said carefully and slowly

"Hm," the girl said, "well the girls don't lie, you really do have stunning eyes and are handsome to boot. Unfortunately your reputation precedes you, I won't let go of your arm or remove my wand from your neck until I am absolutely sure you won't attack me."

Harry thought to himself, there were multiple possibilities in how to get out of this situation. He thought about using wandless magic but the problem was that he was exactly on the level where he would use it publically, and at this close of range, it could be disastrous, for the both of them. He could try to overpower the girl, but that could end up disastrous as well, she could blast his head off in a second if he tried, that left him with either stupid options or the one logical option.

"Fine I will hand you my wand, that way you have control of the situation, just lower your wand" Harry said

The girl remained silent for a moment, "Wand first."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "How do I know you won't just attack me after I hand it to you?"

"I don't think you're in a position to argue Potter," she remarked, Harry could almost hear her grin

Harry couldn't argue with that, "Fine, I never thought I would be outsmarted by a Slytherin," he said as he handed her his wand

"Well, well, well, they weren't lying you are very, very bright. What gave it away that I was a Slytherin?" she asked

"You kept calling me Potter," Harry replied

"So a lot of people call you Potter," she replied smooth as ever

"True but the thing that gave you away was how you handled the situation, first off a Gryffindor, is more than brawn than brains; they probably would have attacked me the second I turned around. A Hufflepuff probably would have trusted me, which left me with a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin. As much as I would like to think that being as bright, as you obviously are, you worked the situation to well for a Ravenclaw, and besides," Harry leaned into her, his head right next to hers above her shoulder, "and I don't recognize your scent, coconut vanilla right?"

The girl turned her head ever so slightly and Harry could see her lips, they were pink, and he could see a bit of her skin that was as soon and pure as silk. She then gave him a dazzling smile, suddenly her head turned a bit to look past him, "Seems I have over stayed my welcome, I'll be seeing you Potter," she then leaned forward to where her lips were right next to his ear, "very, very soon." Then handed him his wand and walked away.

"Harry?"

Harry turned to find Fleur walking towards him, "Miss Delacour, may I ask for what, can I ask, did you want to meet me, at this hour?" he avoided eye contact with the girl

"You feel it don't you?" was all she said cutting to the chase. Harry felt the pull again.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said as emotionless as ever

Fleur drew closer to Harry, "I know you do Harry, it's the same reason you are avoiding eye contact with me."

"The reason I'm not making eye contact with you has nothing to do with what I feel for you," Harry said emotionlessly

She smiled, "I never said anything about how you feel about me."

Harry cursed under his breath, he was slipping up around this girl, this was not good, at all, "It doesn't matter. If the reason you asked me to meet you out here at this hour was for that reason, then you have not only wasted your time but mine as well." With that Harry walked right past her.

"The more you ignore it, the worse it'll get when you're around me Harry, and with a tournament that could possibly kill you, do you think it would be smart to let it build, I can tell it's already starting to distract you."

Harry stopped midstride, and turned his head ever so slightly, "Are you threatening me?"

"No I'm trying to get you to see reason, to help you, so you can help me as well," Fleur said

"And how could this possibly help me, and why would I help you?" he asked

"Because you and I, Harry, you and I are the same. Everybody loves us, you for being the boy-who-lived and I for being a Veela. We attract the opposite sex without wanting the attention, because we both know it's just lust. We have no true friends because everybody wants a piece of us, and everybody hates us for what we are," she responded smoothly coming to stand right behind him and wrapped her arm around his neck, "surely you have heard of a bond mate Harry."

Harry stood frozen, he hadn't let anybody more than shake his hand after Hermione had died, and here was this girl he didn't even know hugging him, "Bonds are only formed between couples that are truly in love and it only forms when they are truly the match for each other."

"Veela bonds are different Harry, we are matched with the person the moment we are born, you Harry are mine and I am yours," she whispered into his ear

"I'm not a Veela," Harry replied, "so you are not mine."

"So bright Harry, you should research Veela history carefully. Harry you are mine and I am yours. The bond, because it is new to you, will begin to build in you, I was born with the bond, and as a Veela the bond doesn't affect me as much as it will affect you," she explained.

Harry pulled himself out of her hands, "I don't believe you. You have no proof of what you say."

Fleur smiled, "All the proof you need Harry," she said as she walked to now stand in front of him, "is right here," she said as she laid her hand on top of his heart, "you just have to stop thinking with this," she said as said as she touched his forehead before moving her fingers as they trailed his face then his neck and finally came to rest on top of his heart again, Harry felt warmth where her fingers had trailed "and think with this again. She's gone Harry, and yes you are allowed to morn but not mope and become broken. My job is to heal you, to make you human again, to love you, and to teach you to love again." She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaning further so that her lips were at his ear, "forgive yourself Harry, and learn to feel again."

Harry suddenly grabbed her hands by the wrist with his own, he brought up all his mind shield as he looked Fleur straight in the eyes. It didn't work as he felt the pull stronger than ever, except now it wasn't his heart, it was his chest. He panicked a bit in his mind, _what is she doing to me?_, "Don't speak about my life like you know, because you have no idea," he said silently before he forcefully moved her aside and started to walk towards the castle.

"What would Hermione, say about you Harry?" she said, "What would she say about what you've become, would she be proud of who you are, or would she be disgusted with the _beast _you have allowed yourself to become? Cold to the world, because your inability to cope with her death. Blaming yourself for what was out of your control. Do you really think that the woman you loved would love who you are today?"

Harry froze, his blood ran cold. How did she know? How did she know her name? He looked back at Fleur and was surprised to find that she wasn't sneering or grinning at him, as though she had meant to cause him pain on purpose to get to him. No the look on his face was worse than anything that he could have imagined. It caused him to question everything, to question himself and what he had become, because the look on her face was that of sorrow, pain, and love

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><p>I know, I know. Its kinda short but I like it. Tell me how you like it. It's not going to be all dark and mucky all the time, there will be funny and happy moments in the story for sure, because every story needs that funny aspect to it otherwise you find your thoughts getting darker and darker and quite frankly though a riveting story it just gets you down into a bad mood, and I like stories that are like this but have bright moments as well. Hey I have a favor to ask you guys out there, I was wondering if any of you would do me the favor of writing a HPDG story, I really like the pairing but quite frankly don't have the time to write one myself. I would love you forever and if you're a girl in the San Diego/Southern California area, I would totally buy you dinner and a movie, not even joking, and you can hold me to that. I thought about giving my number out on one of these stories so I can bounce ideas back and forth with my audience, but two things; 1) don't really want random people randomly texting me and I can imagine all the prank calls I would get and 2)…well I kinda didn't think about number two really… oh well. If I can get enough people to agree not to harass me, I'll give out my phone number, I think it would be kinda cool. Don't you?

Oh and Review please


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so here's next chapter. Beta'd and reread by myself.**

**I personally like this chapter, and I want to thank all of you for your reviews, 95! I wlike 0_0 'that's a lot of reviews' in a really soft tone. Liked them all, read them and reread some of the advice, I like that it wasn' flames, it was actual advice, not just tearing me down. **

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><p>Whoever the girl was from last night, she was beginning to toy with him and quite frankly it was starting to piss Harry off. He smelled her scent of coconut vanilla everywhere where he did not before. In the halls, his fellow Ravenclaws; it seemed that every girl had switched her perfume to that damn coconut vanilla scent.<p>

Even more so frustrating was the fact that Harry was now practically confined to his room. He was determined not to even get near to Fleur Delacour. He reasoned that since she had stated it would get worse whenever he saw her that if he limited himself to only seeing her at the events of the tournament; he would have nothing to worry about.

Harry sighed and returned to the large tome that was open in front of him, without the privilege (or with for certain people) of being able to go to his classes or being able to ask a teacher for help he was restricted to fellow students and tomes, and since there was nothing that his fellow students could possibly teach him that he didn't already know, it was down to tomes and books. He had already ordered over 20 books via owl from Florish and Botts.

Harry closed the tome, stretched and checked his watch; it was lunch time. Again wanting to avoid Fleur, Harry decided to go directly to the kitchens. He could have summoned that deranged lunatic of an elf Dobby but Harry hated the creature, it wouldn't shut up and it was odd even for a house elf.

As he made his way to the kitchens he began to smell the coconut vanilla again. This time Harry decided that he would get to the bottom of this and stopped the girl that the scent was coming off of this time.

"Excuse me but where did you get that perfume?" he asked as politely as possible but with the emotionless voice he said sounded odd.

The girl blushed profusely upon realizing who had stopped her and let alone talking to her, "um this girl Daphne was handing out samples, her father runs a line of beauty products and they recently started making fragrances."

Harry thought analytically, there was a possibility that the Daphne this girl was talking about was the girl from last night or it could just a random Slytherin girl who had picked up the fragrance from this Daphne but not likely, he didn't know any other girls by name or face other than the ones that were in his house but he was almost positive that this was the girl he was looking for, he just needed to make sure, "Daphne, is she a Slytherin, my year?"

The girl nodded and Harry thanked her before turning and continued on his way to the kitchens, a plan already forming in his mind.

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><p>Both Daphne and Fleur were a bit disappointed and worried when Harry didn't show for breakfast and now lunch. Fleur knew Harry was going to do everything in his power to not be in her presence which would only make matters worse and Daphne knew that the reason that Harry was not in the Great Hall was because of Fleur, but why she couldn't quite place. She had tried to listen in on the conversation but she hadn't been able to get close enough to hear without being noticed.<p>

Fleur on the other hand was trying her hardest to remain in the Great Hall and not bolting up to the Ravenclaw common room. She knew that Harry was up his dorm room, it was easy enough using her allure to get the information from a dorm mate. But most of all she just wanted to be near him, the bond was an essential part of her that, now that it was activated, it was like not being with the other half of herself, of course it didn't cause her any physical or mental pain, just a bit of an empty feeling, like she couldn't be completely happy.

Luna Lovegood had had a good two years at Hogwarts but this one was quickly starting to fall apart for her. It didn't help that her best, and now for a year her only, friend had shut himself in his dorm room letting her be at the mercy of her fellow peers. You see Luna Lovegood had, up until last night, been under the wing of Harry. She was like his little sister. When she had first arrived at Hogwarts the students had ridiculed and pulled pranks on her, whether it was taking her books or taking her clothes, both Harry and Hermione had seen this and knowing the pain of not having friends and being outcast put her under their protection, and being under the wing of the top two students in the school did wonders in making her life normal for once.

When the other students noticed that Harry wasn't around to walk her to class they started to purposely bump into her, causing her books to fall every time. In class they ignored her when she asked for help, not any different from before, but they were being straight-out rude to her and started calling her Looney again. She was quite upset and after going through it all morning, she ran off into an empty classroom, not giving her fellow students the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

It was in this state that Harry found Luna Lovegood, sitting in the corner of an empty classroom, crying. Harry had just been returning from the kitchens when he heard crying. He followed the sound and found it to becoming from the abandoned classroom. He immediately ran over sat down and pulled her into his lap and just held. He didn't know how long she cried and he didn't care, she could take all the time she needed. He knew she would eventually calm down and tell him what was bothering her.

Finally her sobs subsided to sniffles and Harry spoke, "Luna, what's wrong?"

Luna sniffed a bit more and began to wipe her cheeks before Harry conjured a handkerchief and handed it to her. After she wiped her face she spoke softly, "They were being mean to me again. Why didn't you come down Harry? I waited for you…"

Harry felt his heart drop, in the madness of last night, with the mysterious girl, the Veela and her bond, and tournament; he had completely forgotten of Luna, his only friend in this entire school, one of his last connections to Hermione. Harry subconsciously hugged her a bit more tightly, "I'm sorry Luna, but I'm a bit off…more than usual."

Luna giggled; she had known Harry before he went…cold. He was a happy person when she had met him, there was so much love in his eyes that she was immediately smitten by the boy but kept that inside seeing him so happy with Hermione in his arms; of course the relationship had been innocent but it was a true relationship, one that was ahead of their age. When Hermione died, it tore her world apart but it completely shattered Harry's. He had poured every ounce of love that he had built in his one year of happiness into Hermione and she was brutally ripped away from him by the very man who killed his parents, his normal life that he had always wanted. From that day on, Luna lost the boy that she had come to love and he was replaced by this very secluded version of him. Luna had spent all of last year and the summer trying to help Harry deal with Hermione's death. What he was doing to himself was unhealthy and even though she was in a lot of pain herself, she worried about him more than herself. Her progress was painstakingly slow; she found that he would show emotions to her in private but not outside, although occasionally she could see it in his eyes.

"It's ok Harry," she quietly mumbled.

"No its not," Harry said as he lifted her chin, "come on, let's go get you some lunch and then off to class."

Luna smiled and nodded. Luna removed herself from Harry's lap, blushing but it went unnoticed in the dark room. Once Harry was up, they went arm in arm to the kitchens were they were more than happy to make her a couple of sandwiches and a cup of pumpkin juice. Once Luna had had her fill they made their way through the empty halls to her next class.

Unfortunately just as they were coming across the Great Hall the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Students poured out of the Great Hall and to Harry's great dislike, Fleur was one of the first out and spotted him right away.

"Shite," Harry murmured

"What is it Harry?" Luna whispered back

"Nothing, come on," he said as he pulled her quickly away from the Veela and towards Luna's Arithmancy class.

"Harry wait," Fleur called quickly seemingly to float across the floor to him, "we need to talk Harry."

Harry kept his eyes ahead of himself, "We have nothing to talk about, and as my fellow competitor we have even less to talk about. Good day Miss Delacour."

"Harry don't be rude," Luna said sternly halting causing Harry to halt by strength that Harry wondered where in the nine levels of hell came from the young and petite girl, "Fleur I'm sorry for Harry's behavior. How are you today?"

Fleur smiled and the young dreamy-eyed girl, "I'm…ok. I feel that I would be much better if Harry and I could talk a bit, I feel that there is a misunderstanding between us."

"There is no misunderstanding between us _Fleur_, everything was plain and simple and there is nothing to discuss about it. I told you this last night."

"No Harry, we did not come to an understanding because you refused to come down this morning and face me like a man, even now you cannot," Fleur said getting frustrated.

"Hey don't talk to Harry like that," Luna said furrowing her brow, "Harry was my first friend and you cannot talk like that to him."

Fleur looked sheepish, "I'm sorry Luna but Harry refuses to talk to me and I do believe we really have to talk."

"Well in that case you can talk," Luna smiled brightly. Luna did something that neither of them had been expecting, she opened the broom closet that they were standing next to and pushed both of them in; Harry first and then Fleur, with Harry catching Fleur. She closed the door behind them, "there you go," she said through the door, "I'll wait here," and with that she sat down next to the door and pulled a book out humming to herself a tune that only she knew.

Daphne was in shock she had seen the whole ordeal and began to question the sanity of Luna. It was obvious that Harry did want to see Fleur let alone talk to her and now he was in a closet with the girl. She marched over to the door and, ignoring Luna protests, ripped open the door; less than three seconds after it had been closed.

She grabbed Fleur and pulled her out of Harry's arms, "What are you doing with _my boyfriend?"_ and proceeded to pull out Harry, "come on you." And with not even a backwards glance (it probably would have been a glare for the matter) marched away, basically dragging Harry with her.

Harry was in complete shock, Luna his 'supposed' best friend had just thrown him into a broom closet with Fleur; only to be pulled out seconds later by a beautiful blond (with dark brown, almost black, roots), who claimed that _he _was _her _boyfriend. After being dragged down and around the corridor his senses finally kicked in and he came to a sudden halt, causing the girl to stubble a bit. Harry caught her before she fell and pulled her up right so that her face was inches from of him. Emerald eyes meeting greyish-green ones. Both of them held their breaths at the close proximity of each other. Harry then removed his hands from her waist and took an overly large step back but not before catching a whiff of coconut vanilla.

"Thank you for getting me out of their, but that will be all," Harry said.

Daphne quickly recomposed herself as well giving him a smirk, "All business as usual eh Potter?"

Harry only stared her blankly before giving her a slight nod and turning to return to Luna, hoping that Fleur had already taken her leave and he could scold Luna for putting him in that situation.

"Not so fast there Potter," Harry stopped mid stride, "I just did you a favor, now you owe _me _a favor," Harry turned to see her smiling at him

'_It's the exact same smile from last night'_ Harry thought to himself

Harry smoothly walked over to stand in front of Daphne, "So what is it that you want, money? 100 galleons should do nicely."

Daphne's smile faded into a scowl, "I don't want your money Potter."

"200 galleons," Harry raised it

"No Potter, _I don't want your money._ My parents have ordered me to have dinner with them this upcoming Hogsmeade. Unfortunately they are hoping to finalize a marriage contract between the Malfoys. The marriage contract gives not only me but my sister Astoria to one Draco Malfoy. You will join me on this 'diner' and act as my boyfriend. Of course you just being there will no doubt annoy the living daylights out of the Malfoys but if we are kissing and flirting, it will utterly destroy the contract. Draco might want what you have, more money and fame, but I know for a fact he will not take 'sloppy seconds' from you. Mind you I'm_ not '_sloppy seconds' to anybody; any boy would be lucky to get a second glance from me, let alone date me. So consider yourself lucky Potter."

Harry stared blankly at Daphne. He took a deep breath…, "1000 galleons."

"Come now Potter," Daphne said with a smile, "it'll be fun. Plus it's me you get to kiss and, if you're lucky and Draco isn't getting the message, grope me."

"5000 galleons"

Daphne frowned, "Am I really that unpleasant Harry?" she said her eyes watering.

Harry cursed under his breath, he never could keep his cold demeanor around a crying girl let alone a beautiful one like this one; it was worse when Hermione had been alive, if she so much as sniffled or her eyes started to water Harry was going out on a limb just to make her happy again. He didn't like that about himself, it was contradictory to who he was.

"Fine," Harry said emotionless as possible and basically gritting through his teeth, he turned to walk away before he stopped, "what's your name? If I going to pretend to be your boyfriend I will need to at least know your name."

Daphne gave a beautiful smile, "Daphne, Daphne Greengrass."

Harry nodded, "I thought so, it was nice to see you again Greengrass," satisfied with the look of shock on her face he walked away.

"Wait!" she ran up and wrapped her arm around his, "if we're going to make this believable to Draco, we're going to have to pretend to date before then, otherwise it would look suspicious."

Harry looked at her, stoic as Krum, "Fine, I have to walk Luna to class as well though."

Daphne mock frowned, "Not cheating on me already are you Harry?"

"No, because we're not even dating, so how can I be cheating on you," Harry said not missing a beat, "and since when are we on first name terms Greengrass."

"Since we started dating," she whispered in his ear smoothly before planting a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"We're not dating," he hissed back. Daphne just smiled back and Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. Finally turning the corridor he saw Luna standing there talking to Fleur. Harry was surprised to see both girls smiling to and talking to each other and as he got near he found their conversation strange

"…so this summer maman and papa are going to let me spend the summer with you and Uncle Xeno," was all he heard of the conversation before they both looked and Harry and Daphne together.

They both frowned when they noticed Daphne's arm wrapped around Harry's though his was just hanging to the side, in no form returning the gesture. Harry watched as rage built up in Fleur, her features becoming more angular before she turned and stalked off, students parting to make way for her. Luna's however was more thoughtful and sad.

"Are you two really dating?" she asked a bit weakly

"Yes/No" Daphne and Harry said at the same time. Harry removed his arm a bit roughly and put his arm around Luna's shoulders, "come on let's get you to class."

The trip to Luna's Arithmancy class was silent and not the comfortable kind. When they finally arrived Luna looked at Harry with sadness in her eyes. Harry immediately knew what she was trying to convey, "Me and Greengrass are not dating Luna, you know I would never lie to you Luna," Harry said sternly

Luna nodded but her face still fell and before Harry could say anything ducked into the classroom. Harry angry punched the stone wall, causing it to crack; shocking the students as they saw the action before he, like Fleur before him, stalked off.

"Come on Harry, pull yourself together, you're getting weak," he murmured under his breath. Ignoring the looks he was getting from the other students he put his mask on once again and excited the castle taking the road to Hagrid's. He passed the hut without the slightest glance at it and stalked off into the Forbidden Forest. For the rest of the day, unnoticed to the other students, green, purple, and red flashes were seen inside the forest.

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><p>"My dear Hagrid why aren't you eating?" Dumbledore said as he popped a tentacle tart into his mouth<p>

Hagrid snapped out of his blank stare to look at the headmaster "Sorry Headmaster sir, it's just that, well I was walking inter' the forest 'gain like I always do and I found some Blood-Sucking Bugbears dead, a whole lot of 'em, wolves got to them by the time I saw 'em. Whate'er was killing them wasn' doin' it for survival, it was jus' ruthless killin' that there was."

Albus nodded sagely, "Do you have any idea why someone would be killing them Hagrid."

"In self-defense I reckon, they ain't got no uses really, annoyin' is wha' they is," Hagrid sighed, "but some of the ways they killed them, brutal it was."

"Well you be careful Hagrid and tell me if you find anymore," Albus said

Hagrid nodded, "Will do Dumbledore, sir."

Albus returned to his deserts as he scanned the Ravenclaw table in search of the raven-haired boy but found him to be missing, "Filius, where is young Harry."

"Up in his room studying," Flitwick responded between bites

"Has he come down at all?" Albus inquired

"He came down for lunch, from the rumors I heard," Flitwick replied

"Rumors?" Albus repeated

"Well, it was said that Harry was escorting Luna, as he always does, to her next class. He was then seen being pulled out of a broom closet by Daphne Greengrass, with Miss Delacour coming out after, I know nothing more than that," Flitwick, lied but he also didn't believe what had be said happened next because it was contradictory to everything that Flitwick knew about Harry, there was no way he was dating Daphne Greengrass, or that he had caused the wall next to the Arithmancy room to shatter by a mere punch (the magic of Hogwarts had repaired the damage moments later).

Albus nodded taking in the information, "please inform Mr. Potter that I require his presence in my office this evening at 7 o'clock."

Flitwick looked at the headmaster trying to discern why he wanted Harry in his office later this evening but let it go.

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><p>Fleur was on her way to the carriage, lost her thoughts of Harry, when she was suddenly stopped by her headmistress, "Come with me," was all she said and she obeyed immediately.<p>

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><p>Daphne was in the library, her 4th year Arithmancy and Runes book open, while she wrote notes rapidly for the exams that were a little more than a month away, when she was rudely interrupted by one Severus Snape, "What were you thinking involving yourself with <em>Potter<em>?"

Daphne didn't look up, "Sir, it's nothing…"

"_Nothing? _Then perhaps you can explain why the Headmaster requires your presence in his office tonight?" Snape sneered, "He has already summoned Delacour and Potter, so this is a lot more than _nothing_!"

Daphne's stomach hit rock bottom, this could _not _be good, in any shape, way or form.

* * *

><p>"Harry," Flitwick knocked as he opened the door.<p>

Harry nodded, "What can I do for you Professor?"

"Albus asks for your presence in his office tonight at 7," Flitwick said giving him a sad look

Harry knew it wasn't a request, it was an order and considering that in the past year Harry has not so much as talked to the Headmaster, except for last night, this could not be a pleasant meeting, "Thank you professor," Harry said with a nod

"Be careful Harry, Albus has a way of trying to get what he want, no matter the cost," Flitwick said as he closed the door

Harry thought this was an interesting comment to make out of the blue as he pulled on his robe, clasping it so that only a bit of his blue and bronze tie and his white shirt showed and with and that he walked down the corridors of Hogwarts, his cloak whirling behind him, a skilled he learned from Snape.

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><p><strong>There you go, so next chapter should be up…when I get the chance to write it, got some chapters for my other stories that I have to put up. Review por favor<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Don't own Harry Potter…and don't want to, cuz that would make me the worst final book writer in the world…not hating just saying…you could have done better Rowling, a lot better…**

Harry James Potter quickly moved through the halls, his mind racing. There was no possible way for the headmaster to learn of his…situation. On a further note, it was none of his business. If anything, a matter like his was taken care of privately between guardians. Still something wasn't exactly right either. The headmaster wanting to see him was nothing new; the headmaster was always requesting his presence to give him information that he already had from his own private sources. There could really be one of two reasons why the headmaster would summon his, tournament information or the Dumbledore reason; he's just too damn nosy.

"Are you going to just stand there or actually go in?"

Harry looked up to find the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office already off to the side and was looking back at him expectantly. Harry nodded and stepped onto the moving steps.

"Please Harry, enter," he heard the headmaster say on the other side of the door.

Harry opened the door and was surprised to find Daphne standing before the headmaster. For a moment his heart froze as he quickly searched the office for anyone else but found it to only contain the headmaster and Daphne.

"Looking for someone Harry?" the headmaster asked curious

"No, no one. What is it that you require headmaster?" he replied smoothly

"Oh well, I have two reasons for summoning you Harry, my boy," the headmaster said in his patented grandfather manner, "the second matter will be discussed once the other champions arrive but I thought it would be prudent to take care of another. You see with the tournament and all Professor Snape will not have time to train you and Miss Greengrass here separately as before. As such it is up to you Harry if you would like to join Miss Greengrass in her lessons. She has already been more than willing, the decision however is ours to continue your training or postpone it till after the tournament."

Relief flooded Harry as he heard the headmaster's reason for his summon, "It will be fine."

"Great! Miss Greengrass has her lessons at exactly 4 in the evening every Friday," Dumbledore said with a smile, "Miss Greengrass if you could let Professor Snape know that Harry will be joining you in your lessons."

Daphne nodded and turned to walk out the door. For a moment her eye caught Harry's and Harry saw a faint smirk grace her lips before she gave a quick wink and walked out the door of the office.

"Harry please, sit. The other champions will be joining us soon," Dumbledore indicated to the seat directly in from of the desk. Harry didn't even blink, "No? Well how about a lemon drop, I have become quite fond of them over the past few years."

Harry shook his head and moved to the side as he petted Fawkes, the phoenix trilled happily.

"Fawkes senses powerful magic around and within you Harry," Dumbledore said, "strange, it seems. Fawkes had much of the same reaction with Miss Greengrass…" Dumbledore let the statement hang in the air for a moment, his eyes twinkling.

Harry flinched a bit but kept his calm, no need to show a reaction now of all times, knowing the headmaster he would…try and get him out of it. Telling the headmaster could possibly work in his favor…but it could backfire just as badly

"Anything to say about this, Harry?" Dumbledore asked

"Nothing, sir," Harry responded. They remained in relative silence as Fawkes continued to trill at Harry's touch. Finally the door opened and Harry out of pure instinct turned to face who had come in and found it to be his worst mistake by far. Fleur had just walked in and in that moment their eyes caught.

Everyone was caught off guard when Fawkes suddenly jumped from his perch and flew over to Fleur shoulder where it snuggled into her check and trilled happily and then turned its head to Harry and trilled happily. Madame Maxime walked in behind Fleur but made no comment to the anyone as she moved to the side

Dumbledore turned and caught Harry's eye and raised an eyebrow. Harry fought the urge to hex the man into next 'great bloody adventure'. However the attention was soon brought back to the door as Igor and Viktor walked into the room. Fawkes jumped from Fleur shoulder and landed on his perch once again as Dumbledore reached out and began to stroke the bird. He looked at the bird thought fully then Harry and Fleur before mumbling under his breath.

"I'm afraid Monsieur Dumbly-dorr zat, we cannot 'ear what you are zaying," Madame Maxime said eyeing the headmaster under a keen eye.

Dumbledore immediately snapped out of his trance like state and smiled and the headmistress, "Dear me, my age must be catching up to me," he smiled, "I have asked all the tournament contestants here to announce the extra three events that will be added to the Triwizard Tournament but it seems Mister Diggory has yet to – "

Cedric opened the door and blushed heavily in embarrassment when he saw that he was the last to arrive and that they had already began, "I'm sorry but I was helping a first year find the entrance to the Hufflepuff tower."

Harry took in Cedric's appearance: ruffled hair, tie a bit hastily rearranged and his color pulled up on his left side. Harry chuckled a bit for the first time in years, Cedric hadn't been helping anyone, unless of course himself to bit of Miss Chang if Harry's guess proved to be correct.

"Not a problem," Dumbledore said with a grandfatherly smile before turning back to the group, "now as I was just saying. There will be three extra events added to the tournament to better test the abilities of the four of you," suddenly Dumbledore's eyes lost their twinkle and grandfatherly as they became cold and piercing, "I will not lie to you four, the tasks ahead are deadly. Even most of the teacher would be pressed to their limits in these tasks set forth by the Goblet. The Goblet is not limited by the rules of Great Britain, France or Norway. Its rules were set in a time when Europe was very different. Today we have rules on what spells we can and cannot use, when the goblet was created and this tournament was set the rules were very, very much different. The Goblet has rules and it has punishments to every rule broken. You'd do best to remember that. This tournament _was _established to bring glory to the school whose champion succeeded to survive and win the tournament but it also served an example, an example of life after school. An example that there is a world of magic beyond these walls that you are not fully prepared for and you _cannot_ be fully prepared for and you must live with that knowledge and only hope you come out of it alive."

The room was deadly silent as everyone looked at Dumbledore with hardened looks. Dumbledore caught everyone's eyes one by one as if to look into their souls and see if they were up to the challenge that lay before them.

"Understand that this tournament is as much a prize as it is a punishment. You are chosen to set an example. The Goblet chooses each champion, not on skill, not on popularity, and not on looks. The Goblet chooses the student that would best represent the school and all within. This means that you are the average among your peers…you are the one that could best fit anyone who came out of this school, you are the best and the worst that your school could offer," Dumbledore continued somberly. Igor and Viktor scoffed; their school had only one entry and that was Viktor, their top student. To them the tournament now, more than ever, looked to be in their favor. Cedric and Fleur looked even more hardened than ever to prove that they were not average, that they were better than that. Harry however looked to be in deep thoughts as his mind was going faster than a racing broom at the European International Championship.

Dumbledore gave Igor and Viktor a pointed look, "You will find that even though it may seem as though you have the advantage here, remember that this tournament is not about book skills but survival skills, this tournament has not always gone to the brightest student but the wisest student, you of all people should know this Igor."

Everyone could tell that Igor's pride was hurt a bit but Igor kept his face as stony as possible.

"Worry not on glory, Champions…worry about your survival," Dumbledore said, "Tasks cannot be revealed all that can be said is that there will now be six…and I can promise you, that they will push you to your limits and force you to keep going."

**So yea, I guess I owe you people an explanation. To make a very massive story short I went on vacation for a couple weeks, took an extra week off from writing, had school and work, had finals, another vacation, car accident, hospital, massive orders from work back to back to back and finally am working on a massive saga that I am working with a Hollywood screenwriter as I really don't have the time to truly sit down a write it myself so I just write down the outline of the story and he actually writes it down then I edit/approve every scene/chapter. Which is why this chapter is so short. We were working on a character that is vital to the story and rewriting who is was and his history and stuff…**

**So I don't know if you can tell, but my version is going to be a bit darker than the books. As I see it, the tournament should have been a lot deadlier considering when it was established and the rules of the time. And I felt that the Goblet should have had a bigger role in the tournament than just picking the champions. It will choose the tasks, enforce the rules and deal out punishment appropriate to the time it was created. Expect death, and I'm not only talking about Cedric, I'm talking blood will be spilt as events run havoc and people are caught in the crossfire :]**


	5. Chapter 5: Sorry for the Delay!

**Nothing really to say other than this chapter was a real bitch to write. I rewrote this chapter at least 10 times and I am still not satisfied at how it came out but unfortunately there is really isn't a better way. Review, tell me what you think, I REALLLY need to know if I did good since I worked hard on this chapter for the last 4 months.**

* * *

><p>The wind was trying its hardest to keep the students from enjoying their Hogsmeade weekend but the students were determined to make this the best they could as they needed to pick up quite a few items to survive Hogwarts. Thirds years ran around trying to hit every shop they could; they crowded Zonko's getting pranks that would eventually get confiscated and Honeydukes spending their money on the delicious sweets. Many of the older students especially the fifth and seventh years were either picking up ingredients at Dogweed and Deathcap or at Tomes and Scrolls picking up extra texts. Of course Madam Puddifoot's was crowded with couples and Spintwitches was crowded with Quidditch players either replacing or getting repairs on their equipment.<p>

However many of the experienced and smart students were sitting in Three Broomsticks Inn or the few older Slytherins at Hog's Head watching the others running around like chickens with their heads chopped off over a round of butterbeer or for the seventh years, firewhiskey. It was at Hog's Head that Harry sat sipping on a butterbeer waiting for Daphne to return from the hairdressing salon which Harry refused to be in the vicinity of besides the fact that it was in across the way from Honeydukes which had high traffic at any hour.

"Well then, can I get you something to eat?" Aberforth asked as he passes Harry.

"No, this is fine," Harry said

"Well that's unusual for you, you always order a sandwich," Aberforth said as he stopped to wipe the bar in front of Harry, "you got a date or something?"

Harry took a long sip from his butterbeer and drained it, "Any news?"

Aberforth took the bottle and put it into a canister under the bar and pulled out an envelope and laid it in front of Harry. Harry quickly shrunk it and put into his pocket, "A grim has been seen in these parts for the last couple of days, saw it myself this morning walking up and down the way; passed Three Broomsticks Inn three times before walking off into the mountains on the outskirts."

"A grim you say?" Harry chuckled dryly, "I think you are seeing things Abe, could have been a large dog."

Aberforth shrugged, "Don't believe me but I be telling you, stay clear of the Three Broomsticks, only bad things can be expected from that place," and with that Aberforth moved on to attend to his other customers leaving Harry to himself.

Harry laid a galleon onto the bar walked out and into the crisp November morning, "How right you are Aberforth, how right you are…" he said quietly as he pulled on his dragon hide gloves before stuffing his hands into his jacket and walking off towards to salon where he agreed to meet Daphne after she was done getting her highlights redone. Harry moved at a modest pace through the small village, paying nobody any mind as he mentally prepared from what was about to happen

'_Why the hell did I get myself into this,' _Harry scolded himself, '_who cares if she had cried? You should have just walked away. This year is shaping up to be a big pile of shit for me.'_

"There you are; you're late. I told you 11:45 and its 11:50."

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and found himself standing before Daphne who was already looking flustered, "I'm here am I not, be glad I even showed," Harry replied coldly

"You owed me. You don't show, I make your life a living hell," Daphne said as she wrapped her arm around Harry's unmoving one, "now we have even less time to go over things. Now as I said my father isn't the one we have to convince, it's my mother that's going to be the one we have to convince. Ever heard the phrase 'the rooster may rule the coop but the hen rules the rooster?' well the same concept applies here. If mother is convinced then my father is convinced. My mom is the type of person who likes to drill and get the best out of people and I don't mean as get them to do better, I mean she will try to gain information out of you to use against you. She'll make you doubt, make you _want _to confide in her, but don't. She is a bitch."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Call me crude but I'm giving it to you straight. Give her the chance and she'll try to fuck you over. You cannot appear weak in front of her or she'll take what she can get and give nothing back," Daphne said, "look, just sit there and answer questions. Now the story is we've been dating for a two months. How we met was on the Hogwarts Express and when my mother asks what my favorite color is you say emerald. She'll try to shoot questions at you testing is we really are dating, like what my schedule is, whens my birthday, the usual stuff. I hope you memorized the information I gave you because if you mess this up, Merlin wouldn't be able to protect your ass from the beating I will put on you. Get me through this Potter."

Before Harry even had a chance to even respond they were standing in front of the Three Broomsticks and Harry was forced to change his cold demeanor to a surprising convincing cheerful one. He pulled open the door for Daphne with dazzling and crooked smile. Daphne stood frozen for a quarter of a second by the smile before she gave a dazzling smile herself as she passed by him.

Harry actually initiated the contact this time as Daphne was once again surprised when he, dragon hide gloves already removed, intertwined his fingers with hers and led them to where Daphne's parents and the Malfoy's were seated. They all stood up as Harry introduced himself.

"Lord and Lady Greengrass, it is truly an honor and privilege to meet you in person. Daphne has said nothing but wonderful things about you two and I have to say that your line of fragrances is a hit with many of the young ladies here at Hogwarts," he gave Lord Greengrass a firm handshake before turning to Lady Greengrass and pressing his lips to her knuckles, "and I can now see where Daphne's stunning beauty comes from Lady Greengrass."

Lady Greengrass gave a Harry a curt nod and a smirk as he released her hand. Harry then turned to the Malfoy's, "Lord, Lady and Scion of Malfoy, I was not expecting your presence here but I must say that it is a privilege to meet you face to face."

"As it is to meet you Harry Potter, your fame has made you well known through the magical community," Lord Malfoy said

Harry chuckled, "and no matter how much I try I cannot seem to hide from it, though it has its benefits does it not? Oh please, let us sit down and order some drinks," Harry said. He pulled out Daphne's seat and took the seat next to her, which Draco had been previously occupying.

Speaking of Draco Malfoy, the boy was turning from red to Vernon purple. Draco could simply not believe what he was seeing. The Harry before him resembled nothing to the cold and distant Harry that walked the halls of Hogwarts. He had heard rumors for the last two weeks that Harry had been seen with Daphne and the Veela occasionally but had thought nothing of it but now it was a completely different story.

Once all the drinks were ordered and the first couple of drinks taken it was Lady Greengrass that spoke up first, "You say that you are surprised to see the Malfoy's here but it is you who we are all surprised to be here. We were given no prior reason to believe that Daphne was a in a relationship with you much less in a relationship at all." Daphne blushed and looked down as her mother gave her a keen stare down.

"Unfortunately that would be my fault," Harry said, "with my fame and popularity among the students, I feared that Daphne would be ridicule or in some way attacked. Being in a relationship with me, even as a friend can be troublesome."

"I have to agree Mr. Potter," Lord Malfoy said taking advantage of the situation, "the last girl to be in a relationship with you _died_, did she not? A mudblood by the name of Granger am I correct?"

Harry's eyes flashed with anger, but ignored the statement and once again directed his attention to Lady Greengrass, "The girl _Lord _Malfoy speaks of was a dear friend of mine that unfortunately was not lucky enough to see the basilisk indirectly but rather face to face."

Lord and Lady Greengrass frowned; it was Lord Greengrass who spoke first, "I am sorry to hear that such a tragedy had to happen to someone so young at and at Hogwarts no less."

"Yes it is such a travesty to the magical community to lose a magical member, regardless of her place of origin," Lady Greengrass said shooting Lord Malfoy a glance to ice before returned to Harry, "was she a close friend?"

Daphne froze but Harry took it in stride, "Yes, at the time that she passed we were in a relationship," Daphne did not like where the conversation was going and was about to interrupt when Harry continued, "I was a bit…rocked as to put it, by the sudden loss and in a haze for much of past year and a half here at Hogwarts. As fate would have it your daughter Daphne here," Harry took Daphne's hand into his and smiled at her for a moment before turning to Lord and Lady Greengrass again, "walked into my cabin on the Hogwarts Express and lent an ear to my troubles and we've been inseparable ever since."

"Bollocks, he's lying through his teeth," Draco suddenly said. Lord and Lady Greengrass look at Draco surprised at the sudden outburst before he continued, "Harry hasn't even been seen around the Slytherin corridors or around Daphne at all."

Harry quickly jumped in to counter Draco, "As I said, being in a relationship with me, even as a friend can be troublesome. It also doesn't help there is a great divide between Slytherin and the rest of the houses of Hogwarts. I feared for her safety and I feel it is my duty to protect her from any form of ridicule or attack, both physical and verbal."

"A noble gesture by a gentleman," Lord Greengrass agreed.

"He's a liar!" Draco cried out causing many to look in their direction.

"Draco speak out of turn one more time and I will make sure that you are punished dearly for insulting a nobleman," Lady Malfoy said trying to defuse the situation quickly before it could fall apart or worse, explode. Unfortunately she had not counted on her husband to take on the behavior of her son.

"Nobleman…," Lord Malfoy said as if just saying it left a bad taste in his mouth, "what can be so noble from a Halfblood born from a blood traitor and a mudblood."

Lord and Lady Greengrass along with Lady Malfoy and Daphne froze, the situation had suddenly turned far worse than any of them could have imagined. They all turned to Harry, finding his face giving nothing away.

Silence was almost deafening in the inn as everyone's attention was now on Harry, wondering what his reaction would be.

Harry spoke softly, his demeanor once again at its norm, cold and unrelenting "Tell me _Lord_ Malfoy, what is it that makes purebloods so much superior?"

Lucius smirked happy to draw Harry in…or so he thought, "It's obvious is it not? Every great wizard is a pureblood. Mudbloods and halfbloods will never be able to hold against Purebloods."

Harry in turn asked, "Are you true to your word about that statement?"

"True as the very existence of magic itself," Lucius responded coldly

"Tell met then why is it that the greatest wizards ever to live were _mudbloods? _Myrddin Emrys, better known as Merlin, was considered the greatest wizard to have ever lived was of muggle lineage. Nicholas Flamel, great alchemist of France, lone creator of the philosopher's stone, is of muggle linage and to this day lives in muggle society. The dark wizard known as Morgan le Fay was a mudblood and she was on the same power levels as Merlin. Even the one who called himself the Dark Lord was nothing more than a halfblood with a surname of a muggle. So you tell me Malfoy; who are the ones who cannot hold, purebloods or mudbloods and halfbloods?"

Lucius lips were thin lines as he kept his rage in, "In time of old when wizards were spread across the land. They were famous among muggles first and through muggle lore to wizards. Stories that were probably much exaggerated by the primitive species known as muggles."

"So you openly doubt the power of Merlin, Flamel, le Fay, and Voldemort?" Harry said rather loudly. Causing many at the inn to flinch at the last name and to direct its attention to Malfoy

Lucius sneered, "Watch your tongue boy."

"Well I was just trying to clarify for my understanding. So is that what you were attempting to say or not?" Harry asked

"You are twisting my words," Lucius retorted.

"How so? I made a statement and you called it false and further said so by stating that the stories were much exaggerated," Harry replied

"I said _probably_, I never said it was so," Lucius countered

"You say that it is possible for mudbloods and halfbloods to not only be on par with purebloods but outclass them entirely," Harry said nonchalantly.

Lucius' nostrils flared as he tried to kill Harry by his looks before he turned to the Greengrasses, "I thought we were here to discuss the contract between your daughter and my son, not to listen the ramblings of a deranged student."

"Insult me if you will Lucius but the only one that seems deranged here is you. You cannot seem to make a clear standing on the issue and furthermore outsmart a simple student. Winzegamot must have lowered its standards further than I thought to allow such people to run wizard society," Harry replied

Lucius was immediately on his feet wand drawn, "Boy you have insulted me for the last time."

Harry's eyes flashed emerald, "Put your wand down Lucius. You are only embarrassing yourself with this pitiful show of rage. You stated that you were here to discuss a contract, I feel that I must be intruding then" turning to Lord Greengrass, "I feel that I have over stayed my welcome and I must make a stop to Tomes and Scrolls before I return to Hogwarts. Lord and Lady Greengrass it was an honor to meet you. House of Malfoy. Daphne I hope to see you later," Harry gave a kiss on the cheek a little too close to the mouth, stood, pulled on his dragon hide gloves before dropping a couple galleons onto the table, "the drinks are one me." He turned and walked out of the inn without so much as a glance back, leaving silence in his wake.

"Now that this charade is over now we can discuss the important matters," Lucius said as he smoothed out his hair and sat back down. However once Lucius had sat down, Lord and Lady Greengrass stood, "where are you going?" Lucius asked

Lady Greengrass just gave Lucius an icy stare and took Daphne with her as she exited the shop. It was Lord Greengrass who spoke who was giving an icy stare as well, "You are an embarrassment to wizards everywhere Lucius, let alone pureblood wizards. You not only allowed yourself to be provoked by a student but lost. There will not, nor ever be a contract between the house of Greengrass and the house of Malfoy."

Before he could walk away Lucius stood and grabbed his arm, "I implore you to reconsider," he girt through his teeth as he pressed his wand to Lord Greengrasses abdomen, "you wouldn't want to make such a hasty decision without thinking of the consequences."

"Remove your wand Lord Malfoy, you are in the middle of a inn in Hogsmeade, outside of Hogwarts," Lord Greengrass said to him, "not standing next to a deranged man who believes himself a lord and immortal," he whispered back to him

"You seem to forget you once stood with said man," Lucius said as he tightened his grip on Lord Greengrass' left forearm, "he is the one who ordered this marriage and it is our duty to follow through those orders."

"And you seem to forget that the man you speak of is now dead and at the hands of the boy who just put you in your place no less Malfoy. Times have changed and people have changed Malfoy, I am not the same power-hungry and delusional boy I was when I joined back all those years ago. You however seem to be stuck in some deranged dream he built for you."

"Mark my words Greengrass, you _will _live to regret those words," Malfoy said as he removed his wand from Greengrass' abdomen but held onto the forearm.

"My dear Lucius, it is not I who will live to regret my words but _you_ who will regret yours," Greengrass said as he removed he arm from Lucius' grip and pulled back his sleeve to reveal a bare forearm, "while others have made their choices and held onto them, I have reconciled mine and have seen the truth, not the ramblings of a halfblood who thinks himself a pureblood and wants to enslave all the muggleborns. Does that sound like a sane man to you?"

"The boy lies," Lucius murmured

"Really have you taken the liberty at looking who Lord Voldemort really was, or shall I say Tom Marvelo Riddle?" Greengrass asked, "or where you just another lap dog ready to please his master, without so much as a thought to who was in command and what he was doing?" and with nothing more Lord Greengrass walked away leaving a very irate Malfoy family.

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><p>Harry was walking down the aisles of books looking for a book on the History of Hogwarts hoping that the limits of the Goblet did not encompass Hogsmeade by chance, pointing out that the town had not been created till about 5 years after the school had already established itself but in all likeliness it probably did as several books seemed to have been removed.<p>

"You were absolutely brilliant Harry!" Harry turned to find Daphne throw herself onto Harry and wrap him in a hug that reminded him all too much of Hermione. She quickly let go and stepped back, "at first I was thinking of killing you but somehow you pulled it off, a contract with the Malfoys is now completely out of the question, including my little sister…" she noticed the emotionless look on his face and her sudden happiness waivered, the Harry she had seen in the inn was weird and completely the opposite of Harry but he seemed human and just for those ten minutes she had felt like he really _did _like her, "thank you…" she finished in an almost whisper

"My job is done," Harry said coldly, "now…stay away from me. I know we have to take lessons together but do not speak to me unless necessary, as I said before, I did this to repay a small debt."

"But…" Daphne started

"You made the mistake of actually believing that I liked you Greengrass," Harry interrupted her, "understand this Greengrass, the woman I loved is dead at the hands of a maniac's legacy, a maniac I will have to face all too soon again. I don't have time for you or any other person, especially teenage girls."

Harry turned grabbed a few books off the shelf and walked out of the shop, not stopping as he dropped a sack of galleons on the front desk as he walked out.

Daphne found herself for the first time being the one rejected. She didn't gain the title of Ice Queen for her good looks, it had always been she who rejected but she now found herself experiencing rejection.

"It's useless you know."

Daphne turned to find herself face to face with Fleur Delacour. Daphne immediately went rigid, Fleur was the only person she knew who could probably get past Harry's cold demeanor as she seemed to cause him to crack and buckle, "what do you want?" she asked coldly

"Nothing," Fleur said simply, "what I _need_ walked out the door. He fights the bond, but the bond is absolute it cannot be changed, it cannot be broken. Only death will break the bond and not in the way he wants it to."

Daphne looked at Fleur emotionless, not at all sure how to handle the situation. She was curious in all honestly in what she meant.

"Should one of us die, a piece of the other dies along with them," Fleur explained, "we are tie to each other now. Had we never met, nothing would have happened, we could have found love in another and I could have directed my bond to that person whenever I chose to but now that we have met we are tied. He feels like I do, but he refuses to accept the bond like I do."

Daphne features saddened as Fleur continued, she really had no chance. Daphne suddenly became enraged; no she refused to accept that, there had to be a way.

"I have to leave," Fleur said suddenly, "here." She handed Daphne a book and quickly walked out the door. Daphne wanted to make chase but looked down at the book that Fleur had handed to her. It was a really old book; the binding was worn and obviously repaired many times by magic. She looked at the cover and found it to be in Latin _Vincula Vitae _was written is still very vibrant gold letters. She opened it and leafed through it finding pages and pages of bonds and how they functioned written uniformly and alphabetically. She hugged the book to her chest as if it were the most important thing in her life and ran up to the front of the store.

"Excuse me, this book, how much it is?" she asked

The lady looked up from her book with a smile, "the book belongs to the young lady who just ran out; she already had it when she walked in."

Daphne said thank you and briskly walked out the shop and made her way back to Hogwarts, she had to get started on the book as soon as possible.

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><p>Harry was once again at Hog's Head in a booth far off in the corner reading the contents of the folder while occasionally glancing at a pocket watch laid on the table. Aberforth walked by and dropped two shot glasses and Firewhiskey on the table.<p>

"Joining me for a drink Aberforth? You know I can't drink firewhiskey," Harry said as he didn't bother to give him a second glance.

"Not for me boy," Aberforth grunted as he walked away behind him a cloaked figure moved and sat across from Harry, the cloak covering everything about the person across from him.

"What do you want," Harry said trying to figure out who was the person sitting in front of him.

The figure said nothing as the person reached out with a gloved hand and poured them both a shot of firewhiskey, sliding one glass to Harry. Harry caught the glass before it slid off his end of the table and while Harry had his eyes away from the stranger, the person downed the glass. Harry was no closer to figuring out who this person was and simply downed the glass. It burned like hell on the way down but Harry's face didn't reveal anything.

"Who are you?" Harry asked. He did not like the situation at all and had an ominous feeling coming from the person in front of him.

The figure did not move for a second before it reached up and pulled down the hood. Harry saw the gleam of golden hair but by the time he realized who was sitting in front of him it was too late. He and one stunning Fleur Delacour were looking at each other eye to eye.

**Review like I said. It would be greatly appreciated…**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I know it has been ages since I've updated and honestly I would have updated sooner but between writer's block, school, and trying to find a job, time just flew right by and then I moved. I think I needed the change of scenery to get the creative juices flowing again. I also decided to dig up my old laptop and write on here because it's really where all these stories started and it seems to be the only place I can write. I now reside in Las Vegas with my grandmother (I need to take care of her) but I find myself friendless since I don't know anyone up here, so if you happen to live here, I would love the opportunity to get to know some people or something. Anyways, here it is, the chapter you all have been waiting for, at least I believe so, I got a ton of positive reviews on my last chapter which I once again thank you all for.**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, I'm just messing with their world for a bit…**

*****This would have come out last week on Friday btw but I donn't have an internet connection and without a car in the middle of the desert, well let's just say that I was and still am cut off from the rest of the world here...Anyways, I present to you, my faithful and hopefully still loyal readers (and new readers) chapter 6 of Tides of War (which will be getting a name change...just not sure what to call it yet)****  
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><p><strong>*WARNING* <strong>

**There are implications of child abuse, death and rape in this chapter. I do not in any way endorse, condone, and/or encourage such acts and use them solely for the advancement of character development and growth**

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><p>Harry was sure he was going to feel the lurch in his chest once again but instead found that nothing happened. A wave of relief swept over him as he came to the conclusion that he had somehow broken free of whatever bond was forming between the woman and himself but, as he continued to study the face of the woman in front of him his relief left, this was not Fleur. No doubt in his mind that she was somehow related to her because they were strikingly similar but there were subtle differences between Fleur and this woman.<p>

"So…Harry Potter, quite the stir you caused back there," the woman said with a sly grin, "you almost convinced me but, that is what you do, no? You are a confidence man; you make people believe what you want them to believe, all the while holding the cards close to your chest…."

Harry suddenly became alert, this woman obviously knew a lot more about him that he knew of her, which coupled with the fact that she had been able to follow and observe him while keeping him in the dark meant that he was at a disadvantage, and he was never at a disadvantage, "Who are you and what the hell do you want?"

"Tsk, tsk," the woman gave a mock frown, "such poor manners, and here I thought you knew how to control yourself, especially in the presence of those better than you."

"You are not my be–" Harry began.

"Please Harry, do not push the line," the woman's face suddenly dropped all emotions of playfulness and became deadly serious. Harry fought against becoming frightened by the woman, she obviously wielded power even he could not hope to match…yet, "I did not come here to be disrespected by some boy who obviously needs to get over his petty little grudges."

Harry's hand shot to his wand but found it to be missing. As he began to panic he felt a wand being pressed to his diaphragm from behind him.

"Now, now Harry, let us not be rash. You know as well as I do, that leaping before looking can quite…detrimental to one's health, no?" the woman casually said as she poured herself another shot of firewhiskey, "Understand that the sole reason I do not have you killed for your blatant disrespect is because my daughter's love is now tied to you. She will only love you and no other man from now until the day she dies. Veela are special in that way but, you must also understand that if you pose a threat to my daughters or my coven, then I will have you put down like the dog you are, regardless of my daughter's ability to ever love romantically again," Harry felt a cold shiver run down his spine as looked into her lifeless eyes before the shifted once again to a happy demeanor, "Ah, where are my manners?! My name is Apolline and I will be your future mother-in-law…"

Harry barely moved as anger rolled off of him.

Apolline smirked, "For one who is so emotionless, you sure wear your emotions on your sleeve Harry. Understand that I bare no ill will towards you. I am simply looking out for me and my own just as you are. Hermione was a wonderful girl with many dreams and aspirations but you must understand that death has no age, it is as blind as love itself."

"How?" was all the Harry was able to get out.

"Hermione was in everything but blood my niece, her mother was my step-sister," Apolline said as she eyed the firewhiskey for a moment before putting it on the edge of the table. Aberforth came by and picked up the bottle before dropping off a bottle of wine. She eyed it, "Elvish, 1085, good year I suppose…"

"For one who lost a niece, you seem to be doing perfectly fine."

SMACK.

Harry tasted copper in his mouth and brought his hand up to stop the blood that now flowed freely from his busted lip.

Apolline held up her hand to stop the second strike from landing and shooed the man away. Harry watched the man walk back to his seat before looking back at Apolline.

"You will watch your mouth boy," she said barely above a whisper, "I have allowed you too long of a leash, and you have taken advantage of it, no longer. I have grieved for Hermione but life moves on."

"Not for her…"

"Grow up Harry, there is always a thin line between life and death, you know that better than anyone. Hermione is dead and you can't go around blaming yourself or anyone else. A basilisk killed her; nothing you can or will do will change that. I understand more than anybody how you feel but, she is dead. It's time you accepted that and moved on from that. I'm not asking you to forget her; I'm asking you to let her go…"

"I…can't. I can't let her go, she was everything to me. She was the only one who knew me completely and utterly. She was and is the only girl in my heart. I am sorry that your daughter's love is tied to me, I really am but, I will not allow myself to become close to anyone. If I have no connections I have nothing to be used against me, nothing to lose, you must know that," Harry said as he finally was able to stop the bleeding and looked her in the eye, "your daughter I am sure is a wonderful person and maybe if we had met under different circumstances we would have worked out but─"

"But nothing Harry, there are no different circumstances, there are no second chances, there is here and now, and as soon as you learn to live in the here and now you will find that things will become much easier to come to terms with," Apolline said as she poured Harry a glass and then herself one. She lifted the glass to take a sip before she noticed that Harry had not touched his, "Please do drink, this is a very expensive bottle and I would hate for it to go to waste."

Harry took a hesitant sip, "Good, no? The elves always were good at making wines, terrible with ales and any other hard liquors but wine…they can make wines. My grandfather once told me that they were great warriors but after the line was established between the magicals and the 'regular' folk they gave up all forms of contact with the outside world. Elves are strange creatures to be completely honest and may I let you in on a little secret," she said with a soft smile, "their immortality is nothing but a myth that they fervently hold onto. I suppose it goes with the whole 'mystical creature' thing, I don't know. I find it quite humorous," she said as she eyed her glass of wine. Harry looked at her confused, "I am sorry; I am quite sporadic sometimes…I can get off on a tangent within seconds and forget what I was talking about in the first place. My husband finds it quite annoying but he won't leave me…no matter how much he cheats. Funny he has a veela for a wife and yet he beds other woman," she snorted, "he should at least have the decency to cheat on me with other Veela, then I could understand…but _regular_ witches and muggles; I don't know where to be angry or insulted."

Harry sat quietly taking everything in, this certainly wasn't how he thought this conversation would go, "I'm…sorry?" he was certainly at a loss as to what to say to the woman.

"Unless you are apologizing for your behavior earlier towards either my daughter or myself, then you have nothing to apologize for," Apolline said, "nor do I want an apology, apologies are like candy, people hand them out with no purpose or meaning. No, you can keep your apologies Mr. Potter, what I want from you is a change. I want you to stop looking back and start looking forward. Understand that Fleur is your future whether you choose to accept it or not. She is strong, she is after all my daughter…"

Harry remained silent as he looked at the woman in front of him and looked around the room before looking back at Apolline, "Ten?"

Apolline smiled gave a soft laugh, "You forgot the two gentlemen out font, the gentleman guarding the back door and the two women at the bar, or did you really think that I would only employ men to guard me?"

"Who exactly are you?" Harry wondered.

Apolline's smile slowly faded as she looked at her glass. He gaze became distant, "Who am I?," She was silent for a moment before she took a sip of her wine and sighed deeply, "When I was a young girl I lived in Eastern France, in a little coven of Veela just northeast of Doussard," she started, "I loved it there. My fellow sisters and I used to spend the days down at the lake, oh for the life of me I cannot remember the name, but those days, oh they were so simple. They always are when you are that young. One day a man came to our coven, I was five maybe six. His name was Kristian Malveki and he didn't stay long, two maybe three days and then he left. I didn't think much of it then because, well I was a little girl, the days were long, and even an hour felt like days. About a week after he left he came back but, he wasn't alone this time. This time he came with hundreds. We fought, oh we fought bravely but while they had several hundred we had fewer than two. So it came to pass that we lost, unsurprisingly enough. My family, my friends, everyone was taken as slaves and transported, all except for _Sophia_. Apparently Sophia had sold us off, her greed destroyed my coven.

"So there I was…a mere child, barely out of her toddler years being sold off as a slave. My mother was sold off to Jocav Mekal, an arms dealer who was looking for someone to warm his bed. What he didn't count on was who my mother was. My mother had been brought up away from the coven in Moscow under the tutelage Igor Mekal, so when Jocav Mekal, his son, found my mother in his bed well, he was surprised to see the same girl whom he grew up with.

"I, however, wasn't so lucky. I was sold to Roberto Devoltri," she spat out the name, "a factory owner with wandering hands who had a thing for little blond girls. I wasn't the first girl to be sold to this man; there were others before…they died for the constant sexual abuse and his…anger issues. I watched three girls die before my eyes as he 'played' with them. That's what he called it 'playtime'," she gave a humorless laugh, "he hadn't touched me till then, satisfied to just making me watch as he fucked the girls to death. I still remember their faces, their pleas…their tears. Then came my turn, till this day I remember that date…24th of August, 1949. It was a day that my life forever changed…

"I remember waking up that morning to an irritable tapping on my door, the night before I had watched as Karin had been pulled kicking and screaming by the hair. She hadn't come back that night and for the entire night I heard the disgusting pounding of flesh on flesh and her screams and cries until they just stopped. The pounding continued but she, she was completely silent," Apolline shivered as she continued to recall the day, "I was brought to his room and as I walked through the door I saw her…she was already dead, I think she had died before he had finished with her. He asked everyone else to leave the room and then locked the door himself. I remember I was completely numb, I couldn't think, I couldn't feel, I wasn't even entirely sure I was breathing. Then he laid his hand on me and I blacked out," she downed the rest of her wine and poured the rest of the bottle into her cup.

"When I came to, the entire home was in flames, blood covered my hands and shirt, and I held in my hands a wand, his wand. I panicked, I washed everything, hid the wand and walked into town. From there I was able to convince a woman that I had been kidnapped and had me transported back to Doussard. When I got back I was hoping to find my family, a friend, someone but all I found were ashes. I was however able to track Sophia down. Turns out she had moved to Italy to live like royalty. I stowed away on a train and was soon in Sicily. However it was impossible to get to her, she had become a mob wife. So I did the only logical thing, I joined the mob. They usually didn't allow girls, the mob was a man's game but I proved my worth within days, my allure beginning to show and I could partially manipulate a man, at least to agree with whatever I said. So, I brought into all the meetings when negotiations were made. All I had to do was make the person sign the papers. It was simple enough, nothing I couldn't do.

"Years passed but, I never lost sight of what I was there for. The mob worked both sides of the world muggle and wizard, the problem they had was that although they had wizards in their employment, they had no way to control them, allowing a wizard the title of mob boss was unacceptable because they could never really trust them to not shoot them in the back. That's when I became important. They had raised me, I was loyal, and most importantly…I was expendable. If things went wrong I could easily be taken out. I wasn't raised as a witch, I had no formal education in witchcraft and all I knew was the mob, so I was the safe bet. Turns out that was their mistake. I still had a wand, the wand I had liberated Roberto of and although its alliance wasn't completely with me, I had just enough to make spells work. I practiced every day and every night, I willed my magic to do my bidding, forcing it rather crudely into spells that I had no knowledge of their proper wand movements or names.

"Over the next two years, I slowly but surely gained the confidence of the wizards under my command. I expanded my troops, gained their loyalty till the point that I was sure that I could take on the mob and win. And on April 8, 1962, 12 minutes after midnight, just a few days after my 18th birthday I made my move…

"Five hundred people died that day, fifty of which were my own but, the battle was won. My battle however had yet to be finished. She was hiding in the closet when I found her," Apolline laughed, "the maudite vache had the nerve to offer me money for her life. I asked her how much would she give me for the life of my mother, you should have seen her face Harry," Apolline laughed, "Oh, you would have loved the look on the salope when she realized who I was. I killed her Harry, her head exploded everywhere. A bit over here, a bit over there, I even had a bit on my face but it didn't matter, it wasn't going to bring my mother back.

"I spent the next year exhausting all my resources and favors just to find her and when I finally did find her, she was dead…I was shocked to find that she had been remarried before she died to a man named Adrian Sanders who had a daughter from a previous marriage, Jean Sanders, who you know as Jean Granger. I decided that the only way to move past my mother was connec t to the only people who knew her perhaps better than I did. I came to call Jean my sister, Adrian my father and left it at that. I returned to France to settle down, have a normal life but, up until then my life had never been normal, and as I learned I couldn't do normal. I was raised mob and I had people, hundreds who relied on me to lead them. So," she indicated to the people around the bar, "I did what I was raised to do, lead my people. I won't pretend to be someone I'm not; I'm a criminal, in every sense of the word. I've killed, I've stolen, I've cheated people and I've broken many, many laws to get what needs to be done completed. I understand your want for revenge, I understand the need for someone to take the blame but trust me when I say that killing Sophia didn't make things better, finding my mother didn't make things better. Connecting with Adriana and Jean was what made everything better. Sure it was slow and I didn't want to see them as family but I eventually got over it, I got over myself.

"Harry I can't tell you what to feel, I can't tell you what to think, I can't even tell you what to do. What I can tell you is what I know, that there are people, good people reaching out to you, to help you, to heal you and as long as you refuse to see beyond your own revenge, your own past, you will never achieve what you need the most. Love, peace, happiness," Apolline gazed at Harry analytically for a couple of silent moments before she turned and waved Aberforth over, "Abe, I'm done here for today, please charge all of this to my account and give the boy a sandwich, chips, and a couple of butterbeers," she said as she stood and pulled her gloves on before she turned to Harry, "Honey turkey with avocado and bacon on wheat, toasted. Make sure that the chips are not too over cooked Abe and don't bring all the butterbeers out at once, one at a time, three will do I'm sure," she finished with a smile and began to walk away before she paused, "I hope to great things about you, especially from my daughter Harry, great things," she said with a wink and with that she left. Harry watched as the other 'patrons' stood and left one by one. Harry felt his wand being slipped back into his robe pocket before the man behind him stood and walked away.

Harry sat shell shocked well after she had left. He couldn't remember eating, drinking or walking back to the castle. By the time he snapped out of his shock he was sitting on his bed, looking at the large envelope in front of him which held nothing but blank pages. He couldn't recall Apolline relieving him of the envelope but it didn't matter. She knew everything know, his network, his contacts, his finances, and his plans. Somehow Harry felt that even though it was another person's hands, he had no worries about it getting out. In fact, he felt that things were about to get interesting…

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><p><strong>I know, I know, huge filler I would guess but I needed to give a basis…and update. I just wanted to say I do not in any way encourage, condone andor endorse slavery or pedophilia but you must admit, it builds quite an interesting character. In every story I've ever read, it's always Fleur's father who helps Harry in some way or form and when it is the mother, she always gets a bunch of veelas to help, I wanted to do something different, something that nobody would have seen coming. Tell me what you think. I know there are grammatical errors somewhere in there even though I read through this chapter twice. I'm hoping someone will volunteer to beta for me or if my old beta would contact me once again so that I may once again generating chapters again. As always leave me a review, I would really appreciate it.**

**We will be diving into the First task next chapter. I've put it off long enough :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**So I guess people didn't like this most recent chapter. Don't really know, I read the first two reviews and based the next fifty something on it. But I broke 400 reviews so I thank all of you, whether the reviews were flames or not. I appreciate them regardless. And look at that, this chapter came out not too long after the last! Come on, you have to be happy about that. Hopefully you'll like this chapter, it's personally one of favorites I've ever written and I wrote it all in one sitting. Yea it took most of the day but, I think it was definitely worth the back pain.**

**So this chapter answers some that people probably have assuming I got the general feel I got from the couple of reviews I read. Especially the fact that I made Harry a 'pussy?' I guess? Harry in all honestly needed and still needs to feel that he is not the most powerful being on the planet and that things will not always go the way he thinks it will.**

_**DISCLAIMER : I don't own Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does and as much as I hate it, I'll give credit where it is due, she wrote a great series of books and introduced the world to the magical world of Harry Potter. She's not too shabby in my book…**_

_**Enjoy…or not, either way leave me a review on thoughts, comments, and stuff like that.**_

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><p>Harry glanced at Fleur, wondering if she knew about the meeting he had with her mother. For the past week Fleur had backed off of him, which lead him to believe that she did. He also glanced over at Daphne. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since the Hogsmeade trip, even though they had advanced potions tutelage together yesterday. She seemed to try and talk to him but decided at the last minute that it was better to wait. He drew his attention away from her before anyone could tell who he was looking at and returned his attention to Luna and gave her a soft smile.<p>

"Are you ok Harry?" Luna asked curious.

"Of course Luna, why wouldn't I be?" he gave her a crooked half smile, "so tell me, how has your classes gone?"

Luna brightened up at the question, "Divination is great, although the professor as no talent for it," Harry snorted as Luna continued, "and care for magical creatures is simply fantastic. We got to meet unicorns last week and this week we learned about thresals. Most of the class couldn't see them but, they're absolutely fantastic creatures," Luna said with a huge smile. Harry couldn't help but smile back to her. "Ancient Runes is interesting, I'm learning a lot and the professor says I have a natural knack for it. She says I'm natural and reminded her of Hermi ─" Luna abruptly stopped and turned to Harry an apologetic frown on her features.

"Don't worry about it Luna," Harry said as he became withdrawn, "I'm proud of you. You're doing great and Hermione would be proud." Harry threw his arm around her shoulders and pressed her to his side and he gave the top of her head a quick kiss of endearment.

"I miss her Harry," Luna said somberly.

"So do I Luna, so do I," Harry said as he gave her shoulders one more squeeze and let her resume with her breakfast, "I'm going today to visit, would you like to come?"

Luna brightened before she suddenly became somber again, "I don't think I can Harry."

"Don't you worry about it, ok? I'll take care of everything. Why don't you go grab your coat and I'll meet you by the front door in five minutes, ok?" Harry said with a soft smile.

Luna instantly hopped off the bench and started to make her way to the entrance before she abruptly stopped and turned and gave Harry a hug, "I like this Harry better," she said softly in his ear before she made her way out of the hall.

Harry sat in shock as he turned his attention back to his breakfast. He did find himself breaking his cold demeanor more and more ever since the beginning of this year and things had gotten progressively worse since Daphne and Fleur had decided to make their presence known in his life. The more he felt his cold demeanor slipping the more he found his thoughts slipping away from Hermione and he couldn't let that happened.

Harry quickly snapped out of his shock, cooled his emotions, and slipped his mask on once more. He needed to pick up a couple of items before he made his trip today and he needed to talk to Professor Dumbledore quickly to get permission for Luna. He confidently strode over to the headmaster as he enjoyed his breakfast.

"Headmaster, if I may have a moment of your time?" Harry asked as respectfully as he could.

"Of course Harry, should we go to the antechamber?" the Headmaster asked as he stood anyways.

"Yes, please," Harry said as he led the way to the room.

Once inside Harry glanced around the room before he quickly brought his attention to Dumbledore, "I am requesting to bring Luna with me on my outing today."

"Ah," Dumbledore said as he took a seat on the single dusty desk that was in the room, "you know as well as I do Harry that I cannot authorize that myself Harry. Her father ─"

"As of August 8, she has become a ward of House Potter and Black, I have as much say in her life as her father by Wizarding law. Aside from that, you know as well as I do that since Mrs. Lovegood passed away he hasn't been the same. I am moving to take full custody of her after this year."

"Harry, are you sure that that is the best course of action?" Dumbledore asked his face somber, "you are only 14. I think it best ─"

"What you think best and what is best are two different things Headmaster," Harry quickly stated, "and despite my age, I am a legal adult in the eyes of the law. As much as I like Xeno, he is not fit to be a father anymore. I have been able to keep Luna from acquiring his quirks and his belief his fake magical animals but it has become a chore to go from my home to hers and fix the damage that he is doing to his own daughter. The best course of action at this point is to remove her from his care. Yes Luna will be upset but we've already talked and she understands that although he is her father, he is no longer a fit one."

"I have known this for a while too Harry," Dumbledore sighed, "but will you reconsider? I can have her moved to a different family: the Bones, the Abbots, the Weasleys even the Longbottoms."

"No," Harry said with finality, "she will live with me, I am more than prepared to take her into my home and there are none who know her better than I. The papers have already been filed and I am positive I will gain guardianship of Luna."

Dumbledore nodded, there was no doubt that Harry would gain guardianship, he held the Wizengamot in his palm of hand. Nothing passed without his approval, everything he wanted was granted, and anything he wanted removed would be removed by the end of the day if not within the hour. It was frightening to think that the boy wielded such great power at such a young age, "Very well Harry, you may take Luna with, however any harm that may befall her is in your hands."

Harry nodded.

"As long as you understand," Dumbledore sighed. He then reached into his robes and handed Harry and large A4 envelope, "I was able to recover these document from a Mrs. Delacour who I happened to run into about a week ago in Hogsmeade. I was looking for an opportunity to hand them over to you discretely but this week has been quite hectic with the tournament preparation." Harry was surprised that the Headmaster had been able to recover his things for him; he had honestly thought that Mrs. Delacour had gotten away with his documents.

"I, unfortunately, was unable to find out if she had gone through the documents but considering that the envelope was open and in her hands, I think that it's safe to say she may have," Dumbledore continued, despite Harry frown, "I have not gone through them myself despite my curiosity as I know that doing so would further estrange our already rocky relationship," Dumbledore said, hoping to gain some ground with Harry. If he had Harry didn't show it. With a heavy heart he pressed on, "We have meeting between champions on Monday for the official weighing of the wands for the event on Saturday Harry, please be there at 10 sharp, I'd rather not keep you too long from your studies," Dumbledore stood and gave Harry a nod that Harry curtly returned.

Harry stood by the door and glanced at his watch, Luna was five minutes late and Harry was beginning to get worried when she suddenly popped up next to him, "I'm ready Harry," she said with a dazzling smile, "Can we stop by Hogsmeade, I want to pick something up before we go."

"Of course," Harry said with nod and took her hand in his and led her off the grounds.

* * *

><p>"Hey, I miss you…a lot," Luna said with a sad smile as tears trailed down her face, "Harry said he's going to take me in. I know that Daddy loves me and I love him with all of my heart but," her tears came down harder, "he can't take care of me anymore Mommy. Daddy just isn't the same. Harry says that he's going to help Daddy. Harry said that he'll get the best people to help him. And," she gave a soft smile, "I know he will…,"Luna looked down at the lilies she had in her hand, "I got you some flowers mommy, they're your favorite. I got them in lavender like daddy always used to get you," she laid the bouquet down onto her grave clearing a couple of leaves that lay on top of the tombstone. She read it slowly to herself<p>

_Here lies Selene Lavender Lovegood nee Delacour  
>A loving wife and even better mother<br>April 20, 1962 – August 8, 1992_

A drop of water dropped onto the word mother and she choked back a sob as she gently rubbed away the teardrop. Her mother had been an amazing woman. She was brilliant, beautiful, and the nicest woman she had ever known. She had been everything to her and her death had shattered her. The only thing, the only person who had saved her, brought her back was Harry.

"I love him mom," Luna said as the tears renewed with vigor, "and…and I'm so afraid of I'm losing him Mommy. I barely survived losing you but…I don't think I could survive losing him."

* * *

><p>"Hey," Harry stood over the grave solemnly. He tried to find words but they seemed to die in his throat. He stood silently for a moment as he organized his thoughts, "I…I am a loss Hermione. I honestly don't know what to do. Things are changing, faster than I could possibly imagine and I don't know what to do," Harry looked down and shifted the ring in hand, "Life has gotten incredibly complicated," he ran his hand through his hair, "Daphne Greengrass, well she's…become more trouble than I can honestly handle and the present time with the tournament and the plans," he said, his mind a million miles away, "I've tried pushing her away and she just seems to be encouraged to stick around and make my life her plaything. And I cannot begin to explain the trouble that Fleur Delacour, your cousin, has become. She has become a problem that I cannot solve…," Harry returned his gaze to the ring and looking at the stone.<p>

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes before he continued, "Is it wrong for me to find myself thinking about her? Is it wrong for me to find myself seeking her out when I know that I shouldn't, that it tarnishes your memory? She plays with my head, I know she does it on purpose and I find myself angered more and more every time I look at her and think about her blasted mother. Between the Delacours and Greengrass, I'm teetering on the brink on insanity here and the Triwizard Tournament hasn't really begun at all yet!"

Harry turned to look at Luna who was several rows down from him. A gust of wind caused Harry to pull his coat closer and turned his gaze back to the gravestone, "Luna is doing ok," Harry said with a soft smile, "she'll be moving in with me after this year. We'll be moving everything to my home over the Christmas break and she'll be decorating her room over Easter break," he fumbled with the ring nervously before he huffed, "I gave her the room I was going to give you…," he said with a soft smile, "I was hoping that you would move in with me this year or maybe the next."

"Hermione…I don't know if I can do all of this, I find myself questioning if it would be simpler to just join you?" he said, his voice dead, "then we can be together and we'll fine and happy not have to worry about anything."

'_You can't do that.'_

"I know," Harry said softly as he looked down at his hands shuffling the ring back and forth in his hands.

'_Harry, I love you never forget that.'_

"I love you too Hermione."

'_But Harry, you have to let me go.'_

"I can't Hermione," Harry state, "you know I can't do that Hermione, you mean too much. Everything I was, am, and will be is because of you Hermione. How could I just forget you? How could you ask me to just forget you?" Harry collapsed to his knees as he became more withdrawn trying to keep his voice from wavering and Hermione kneeled before him.

'_I'm not asking you to Harry, I'm not asking you to. But I want you, no…I _need_ you to move on,' _a ghostly hand covered Harry's and Harry paused as he realized that he had unconsciously summoned the ghost of Hermione. Harry looked up and gazed into the ghostly face of Hermione Granger. He gently brought his hand to caress Hermione's cheek. His vision blurred momentarily as he forced unshed tears back, _'Hi,' _she smiled sadly as she brought her hand up to caress his hand.

"Hi," Harry croaked out, he then averted his eyes from hers and moved away from her ghost "I'm so weak…" he mumbled, "if I had been strong enough or smart enough I could have kept you alive and I wouldn't be in this mess. It's my fault Hermione, I failed you. I failed you and because of my mistakes you are dead."

'_No Harry, no. You've never been weak Harry. You're strongest person I know but, you've lost yourself Harry,' _she said lovingly, _'you've lost your way. I love you Harry but I, indirectly, am destroying you. You have to move on Harry. Maybe it's Luna, maybe it's Daphne, maybe it's Fleur or maybe it's someone else that will help Harry but you have to let me go. You have to find someone else to love Harry because I can't give you the love you need. I can't hold your hand. I can't hug you. I can't kiss you. But most importantly Harry, I can't support you Harry, I can't stand by your side. As much as you think you can do this alone Harry you can't. I have faith you can accomplish anything but no one can do everything alone,' _silver tears ran down her cheeks and Harry instinctively went to wipe them.

Hermione smiled softly as she wiped them herself. _'I love you but you need to move on. I'm not asking you to forget about me, I'm asking you to move on Harry. Do it for me Harry, please do it for me? Promise me?'_

Harry searched her eyes and turned away from her, "I don't know if I can promise you that Hermione…but I will try. For you I will try."

Hermione frown sadly, _'Thank you Harry. I love you Harry and I will be waiting for you. Please take care of Luna for me.' _

"Of course, you know I will," Harry said with a soft smile, "and I love you too Hermione, in this life and the next."

Hermione smiled as she softly kissed Harry on the forehead and faded away

* * *

><p>"Are you ready Luna?" Harry asked as he moved over to stand beside her. After he had paid his respects to Hermione he had let Luna a moment alone at Hermione's grave. He had waited just out of earshot letting Luna have complete privacy. He heard her cry and laugh a bit and was happy that she had a moment with Hermione ghost.<p>

"Yes, Harry," Luna said with a dazzling yet tearful smile, "I think so. I think me and Hermione came to an agreement."

"Really?" Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, very much so," Luna said with a smile a blush.

Harry smiled serenely at her and stuck out his arm for her to take. She gladly took it and together they left the graveyard passing a couple as they walked into the graveyard. Harry gaze a quick and respectful nod to the couple as they passed each other.

"How would you like some pancakes, huh? I know how much you love it with white chocolate chips and topped with strawberries," Harry asked as he led her to a black Mercedes that was parked out front of the graveyard.

"Oh can we Harry? And hot chocolate?" Luna asked her eyes wide.

"With or without whipped cream?" Harry asked as he opened the car door.

"What kind of question is that Harry?" Luna asked seriously before a wide grin broke her serious face and she fell into giggles and climbed into the backseat.

Harry smiled as he shook his head at her, "I don't know what I was thinking," Harry said climbed in after her and gave a quick nod to the driver to take them away

* * *

><p>Fleur was honestly shocked at what she had seen. Had Harry really summoned the ghost of Hermione? Was it possible that he had found a ritual of sort to summon her ghost. Summoning was a fickle thing but ghosts were the hardest to summon because you couldn't really tell if they had crossed over or not; if they had decided to wait in the in-between or moved onto the next life. Apart from that, ghost summoning required an extensive knowledge in necromancy and a sacrifice of flesh and blood to summon the actually summon a physical representation rather than just channel the ghost.<p>

She waited until she saw them exit the graveyard and moved to stand over the grave of Selene Lovegood. She had loved her aunt dearly was honestly heartbroken when she had died. She hadn't been able to attend the funeral because she had been cast out of the family along with her parents when her grandfather and her granduncle had gotten into a heated argument on who would become head of house of Delacour. Her granduncle in an attempt to appease everyone decided to let her grandfather be the head of house. Unfortunately in a heat of rage her grandfather decided that it was all a ploy to get to the head of house later on and exiled her granduncle out of the family. It had left Fleur's family divided and her father, being the asshole that he was, saw no reason to reinstate them to the family.

She gazed down at the gravestone and gentle kneeled down to caress the lettering. She wished she had known her aunt better. That had met only on seven different occasions because her mother felt it was important to meet all sides of the family. Her aunt Selene had been so carefree and loving even though she had no reason to love them. She had taught Fleur her first spell and taught her the basics of spell creation, something that had fascinated Fleur since she could remember. Every year on her birthday and Christmas she would send a book on spell creation or enchanting and Fleur honestly looked forward to receiving the gift every year.

"I'm sorry I never visited Aunty Selene. It was hard to get Papa to even agree to stay with Uncle Xeno and Luna this coming summer. He kept saying that it was no use, that Uncle Xeno was off his rocker and that Luna may not be staying with Uncle Xeno much longer. That papers have been filed to remove custody from him," she said sadly. "I'm sorry I can't do anything. I feel like my entire family is falling apart. My father keeps cheating on Maman, he doesn't even try to hide it from us. Maman, I don't even know what she does or where she is half the time. I don't know my aunts or uncles and the few I have barely keep contact. Gabrielle is the only real family I have. She misses you dearly, Aunty. I've been letting her read the books you gave me since she has so few of them…," Fleur said softly.

"I've…I've met someone Aunty but, he's closed off," Fleur said as she picked up a dried leaf and began to pick it apart piece by piece, "he's passionate," Fleur smiled softly, "just not for me," she frowned, "I know he's a good person Aunt Selene. I know that he has the ability to make dreams come true. To do godly things."

"I'll try aunty, I'll break him out of shell," Fleur said, "we've bonded, and no that's not a guarantee but I think it'll help. I think he'll learn to love me," Fleur resolved, "I just want to help him Aunty, that's all I want."

She conjured a dozen of white roses and laid them out onto the grave next to Luna's lilies, "I'll visit at Christmas Aunty, I promise."

She slowly stood up and walked over to Hermione's grave. As she moved to the grave she saw a couple walk away towards the exit. She glanced down at Hermione's grave and found three bouquets lying on the grave. Puzzled she looked up, looking for the couple but found that she was alone in the graveyard. She turned her attention back to the gravestone.

"Hi," Fleur said trying to find something, anything to say at the moment. "I know we never really got to know each other and I'm sad that we didn't. My mother said you were a beautiful and brilliant girl and from what I saw you really were."

"I don't know what you said to Harry, I couldn't bring myself to actually eavesdrop on the conversation I knew it would be extremely disrespectful and I want Harry to trust me…," Fleur softly said, "Part of me says that what I'm doing is wrong. That I'm somehow disrespecting your memory but, I cannot help who I bond to Hermione.

"I'll take good care of him Hermione, I promise," Fleur said fervently, "and I will never, ever try to replace you. Nobody can replace you," she said softly as she shuffled through her bad before producing an old envelope, "I brought the letter you wrote me. You know, the one you wrote to me after you found out you had a cousin…," tears leaked out of her eye, "I'm so sorry I never replied Hermione. I should have replied. I should have sent something so that you knew that I knew who you were. And that I not only knew who you were but that I cared. I'm sorry that I acted like I didn't receive the letter even after we met. I have regretted that more than anything else because I feel that we would have been close. That we could have been great cousins and even better friends…" Fleur glanced at the envelope in her hands once again as she trailed her fingers over the old ink, tracing Hermione's name, "and I'm sorry that we only ever met once…"

Fleur quickly conjured another dozen white roses, "I never knew your favorite flower…I never got to know anything about you…and I will regret that for the rest of my life…," Fleur gently laid the bouquet on the grave and quickly stood up, "I don't have much else to say really. I just hope that you'll give me your blessing Hermione. And I promise to never hurt him…."

* * *

><p>Harry stood ready in the tent. The weighing of the wands had gone without fiasco and the rest of the week and gone by in a whirlwind of training and Luna. Apparently after class one day Hagrid had let it leak to Luna, who had stayed to help clean, his excitement over the dragons that were being keep deep in the forest for the tournament. Luna had immediately let Harry know and Harry had shifted his studies. Drowning in his studies had kept him closed off from everybody and helped him in his resolve to remove Daphne and Fleur from his life if not forever then at least temporarily.<p>

He knew a decent amount about Dragons but, not enough to know how to battle one. It was the only logical explanation to four dragons. After Harry had scoped out the dragons in the forbidden forest he came to the conclusion that they would either have to battle or get around a dragon considering that there were four champions and four dragons.

Dragon hide was notorious for its density. It took more than a strong piercing hex to make the dragon even _feel_ that it had been hit. With a keen sense of smell and eyesight that would make a hawk jealous, dragons were brilliant trackers and hunters. Add to the fact that they were usually over a hundred feet in length and had enough power in one claw to shatter boulders; they were a sight to behold. Usually your last.

However, every creature had a weakness and dragons were no exception to the rule. Of course each dragon was different and each had different weaknesses. He had been able to identify the four dragons form their general appearance. There was a Common Welsh Green, a Chinese Fireball, a Swedish Short-Snout, and Hungarian Horntail.

Now the Welsh Green would be the ideal dragon, usually tame and relatively docile you could probably distract it enough with a couple of large animals and finish it off with an over powered severing charm to the neck. Welsh Greens had never developed a tough exterior due to the fact that they had no natural enemies in the area.

A Swedish Short-Snout would be the next obvious choice. A bit temperamental the short-snout was a creature that used short bursts of speed and strength to quickly over power its prey. If you could drag out the battle and tire it, you had a better chance. Sweden however did have fickle weather and the dragons usually kept to the volcanos, causing them to build a tough exterior. Their weakness was extreme cold ironically. Harry figured if he dragged out the battle long enough he could render the beast unconscious with several overpowered freezing charms.

A Chinese Fireball is a tricky beast that was a lot smarter than they seemed and short tempered. Fireballs kept to the sky, they were keen flyers and their fire breathing was among the best as far as dragons were concerned. Their trademark bursts of fire were what had given their name. The key to winning against a Fireball was to keep it on the ground. Because they spent so much time in the skies, they were among the slowest dragons and their strength was in a word: pitiful. Keep the battle on the ground and be quick and you had a chance. Their skin wasn't that tough but definitely better than a short-snout. A couple of blasting hexes to the feet and chest and you could maybe keep the dragon down long enough to defeat it.

Now a Hungarian horntail was a completely different story. They were vicious, brilliant, and considered the most dangerous of dragons. Their skin was as tougher than steel and spell resistant to even the most powerful of spells and their strength was astronomical. Coupled with the most brilliant mind of any dragon species and a temper that snapped within a second, vicious didn't begin to describe Horntails. There were only two in captivity and apparently the Ministry had somehow gotten permission to bring one to compete. Harry honestly had no clue in how he would be able to defeat a Horntail, with so few in captivity there wasn't much on Hungarian Horntails and a weakness had yet to be discover.

And just as luck would have it, Harry had gotten the Hungarian Horntail and was to be the last to enter the arena. Their objective was to obtain a golden leg from a nest which meant that all the dragon were female. They couldn't have made a worst decision as far as gender choice. Between males and females, females were far more vicious as they were the dominant gender of the species. They chose the mates and they chose where to nest. Add to the fact that it was breeding season, well…all the champions were facing something far worse than just dragons; they were facing female dragons protecting their young. You couldn't have asked for a worse situation.

"AND FINALLY OUR LAST CHAMPION FACING THE HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL, HARRY POTTER!," Bagman's voice echoed throughout the entire arena as Harry stepped out of the tent and down the makeshift hallway into the arena stopping in the shadows just before he 'officially' entered the arena and his time began. Harry stared solemnly at the dragon before him. Yup, it was far worse than he thought. He had hoped that the dragon would at least be a bit calmer than what it was. It was already crouched around the nest and looking at all the students ready to attack.

Harry sighed, "Well there goes plan A," he grumbled. He had hoped that the dragon would be calm enough so that he could try talking to the dragon with parselmouth but the dragon wouldn't listen to him now, it was too worked up. Time for plan B, he just hoped that dragon gave him a big enough window to try.

Harry slowly and gently stepped into the arena, careful not to startle the dragon and grab its attention. Harry noted that it was deathly silent in the arena despite the fact that many of the students were chatting. Harry figured that there was a barrier between the students and himself and the dragon that blocked out sound as well. Harry breathed deeply and settled his breath. It was now or never.

Harry drew wand and quickly began to drawn runes midair, it was a meticulous endeavor but he was only allowed his wand so it would have to do for the moment. Conjuring a scroll and ink would not have the amount of power as drawing the runes directly out of magic.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Harry mumbled as he quickly made the runes, they were a binding sequence meant to chain a being down with chains made from arcane magic. His hope was to immobilize the dragon then simply grab the dragon and walk out. He still had another six runes to draw when the dragon finally seemed to smell him and set her gaze on him. Harry quickly calculated his chances of finishing the rune set before the dragon attacked. 34.768%. It was chance he was willing to take.

4 runes left.

The dragon brought itself to full height hoping to intimidate human meat bag away.

3 runes left.

The meat bag was a lot braver than most, the Hungarian Horntail decided that since it wasn't making any hostile movements that it was give a warning roar that Harry made no indication of hearing.

2 runes left.

The Hungarian decided to give him one more warning before she decided to maul him. She dug her claws into the ground around the nest and let out a burst of flames into the sky right above Harry. Harry swiftly began to sweat from the heat.

1 rune left.

Not giving the chance for the Hungarian to finally kill him. Harry hastily drew the last rune and activated the arrangement. The runes glowed a bright purple before a giant array of glowing runes appeared around the dragon in a circle. Suddenly massive purple flaming chains appeared and tied the dragon down immobilizing it, much to Harry's relief. He cautiously made his way towards the eggs when suddenly Harry felt an overwhelming heat and quickly dived away from the dragon.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath as he saw the dragon breathing an endless stream of fire onto the nest. He had miscalculated. He had forgotten to factor in the fact that the beast was very much capable of breathing fire regardless of its ability to move. Harry began to think. It's hind was highly resistant to spell work so that quickly made anything meant to pierce and blast out of the question. Harry then decided to try an over powered freezing charm. If he could freeze a leg, he could distract it long enough to grab the egg and make a hasty exit.

It turned out to be a terrible idea as it seemed that breathing fire also heated up the dragon's body high enough that the ice simply melted on contact. Harry cursed under his breath. It was a good idea, he just need a way for the dragon to stop breathing fire long enough to freeze something or colder ice. Harry quickly removed his outer layer of clothes and quickly began to form a plan. He had hoped to avoid this option till he was absolutely sure that it would not only work but that it wouldn't leave him in a permanent state that he would be unable to reverse but it seemed like the only option of getting the task done. The Everlast frost enchantment was meant to be used on weapons and inanimate objects but Harry had altered the array to become a projectile of everlasting frost onto an object. The problem now was that it had to be carved into the human flesh to appease the human blood and flesh requirement without actually using blood and flesh.

Harry slowly pressed his wand into his skin and began to draw runes onto his left arm from the bicep to his wrist. The wand left a trail of blacked skin that looked solid but was in fact hundreds of tiny runes. The trail of black wove like tribal tattoos around his arm by the time he was finished and Harry forced magic into his arm causing the marking to go from black to a glowing sky blue. Satisfied with his work Harry turned to face the dragon once more this time determination set in.

He raised his arm and forced magic into his arm and suddenly ice began to shoot out of the palm of his hand. Harry began at the base of the dragon slowly moving up. The dragon suddenly finding itself in a dire situation redirected the flames and tried to melt the ice before it froze to death but the fire seemed to nothing to the ice. The ice just continued to move upward and the dragon began to panic as it struggled to free itself of the chains and ice but soon it found itself up to its neck in ice and in a final almost sorrowful cry the beast was frozen completely solid.

Harry exhaled in relief once he saw the dragon completely frozen and walked over to the egg which was glowing red from the heat of the flames. With his left hand he casually reached down and picked up the egg. The egg instant went from red to its natural golden color.

Finally able to drawn his attention away from his task he looked up to find everyone in the stadium looking at him slack jawed. What they had just seen seemed impossible, to freeze an entire dragon. The runic magic had been impressive enough but it was the runic enchantment that he had done on himself that had completely stunned people. Harry casually glanced around the crowd and spotted Luna beaming down at him. He also spotted Daphne who had a ghost of a grin on her face. He finally turned to the judges box where most of the judges seemed to be too stumped to even score him. He was able to spot Fleur who had a bandage on her cheek looking down at him with relief written across her face. He quickly averted his gaze when he felt the pull begin in his chest.

Finally Bagman seemed to snap out of it and announce, "Harry Potter has completed the task in just under 15 minutes." This time he talked as if he couldn't believe what he had just seen. In fact, most people could people couldn't believe what they were seeing. There was a giant iceberg in the middle of the field that held a furious dragon that seemed to have just…frozen; as if someone had just hit pause on it.

Finally after five minutes of silence the judges gave their score. Dumbledore gave him perfect 10, Madame Maxime 9, Bagman a 10, Igor a 8 and Crouch gave him a 10 for a grand total of 47. Well above everyone else. Harry solemnly nodded and walked out of the stadium in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't think I really address why I 'pussified' Harry but I don't think I really have to. A godlike Harry leaves no room for growth. No room to develop the character. A Harry with a tough exterior that can still be shattered makes for a much more dynamic Harry. I just didn't want to Gary Stu the guy ok? It makes the character unbearable after a while. I was already getting fed up with the guy and he's my character! I also meant to include Greengrass more in the chapter but she really didn't fit without coming out too 'Mary Sue'ish as well.<strong>

**Oh bonus, can anyone guess who the couple in the graveyard was, cause if you didn't get my hints…well then I worry about you**

**Completely different note. I'm going to start promoting stories that I think are well worth the read and this time it's for **_**'Harry Potter: Whiskey Accident' by LordFira**_**. It is an excellent read and I'm loving the character development and plot. Definitely one of my favorite stories on fanfiction at the moment and I'm always looking forward to the next chapter.**

**If you have a story that you think I'll enjoy or you have a story you wrote that you would like for me to promote on the chapter, please leave it in the reviews and I'll read it when I get the opportunity and decided if I would like to promote it.**

**Thank you**


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